


Lamorak

by ShadowJaySmith



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: F/F, F/M, fight me, roxy is gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-03-26 10:18:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3847207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowJaySmith/pseuds/ShadowJaySmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Under new management, the Kingsmen are trying to start over; recruiting new agents and taking more precautions, but there's a new threat, this one not only to the world, but to Kingsman itself. Now the question on Eggsy's mind is: What the hell did I get myself into?<br/>[I am completely re-writing this work. I was unhappy with how it was turning out, and so I finally got around to re-doing it.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Manners Maketh a Murderer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. So I began this story after I watched the first Kingsman film (still one of my favorites) and then stopped writing it because it was actually just not well structured. I saw the second film the weekend it came out, and I was extremely disappointed. I thought that it had all of the same elements, but none of the emotion of the first film. I did enjoy many aspects of it, but I felt like they did not address a lot of the stuff about Eggsy specifically that I enjoyed from the first film. After watching his growth throughout the first film, the next logical step is to show him dealing with the loss of Harry, and also falling in love with someone. I think that him being with Tildy was a great idea, but the way the whole thing was written was unbelievably two-dimensional, even in respect to her. I really really loved the first film, and so to make myself feel better about the second one, I'm going to try and finally finish this story.
> 
> I'm not saying that I can portray Eggsy perfectly, because I don't think I can, but I'd like to try and write the sequel that I wanted for him. I really loved the depth of his personality in the first film, and the relationships he created with people. I wanted to see more of his mother, more of his relationship with Tildy, more of him and his friends and for fuck's fucking sake I wanted more Roxy. I fucking love Roxy. I was so happy that the first film introduced her as his friend, his equal, and his partner, and not a romantic interest, while also making her have depth, emotions, fears and immense courage. I loved how she was really inspiring to Eggsy, through her determination to win while also being kind and fair. One of the things I was most looking forward to in the Golden Circle was more Roxy, and instead, I got five minutes, and about the same amount of lines.
> 
> Also, they killed his fucking dog?? What the fuck man? Are you kidding me??
> 
> Okay, that's all I have to say now. I hope that this version is a bit easier to read, and I hope you aren't offended by my dislike for the second film. There were many Matthew Vaughn aspects of it that I enjoyed, there were just also many basic, stereotypical, over-done action films. Kingsman: The Secret Service was great because it was different, and the Golden Circle was nothing but a Bond Film on steroids.

The sun was high in the sky above London. In one corner, a young man poured himself a cup of tea. A young woman, in an underground room, shot a handgun at a sheet of paper. She was on the phone with the young man, and they spoke about nothing in particular. They were the closest of friends, so it did not matter if for which they spoke was of any real importance; all that mattered was that they were with one another. The nature of their shared occupation was a bit difficult to explain, but it required one to be quite lonesome.

They worked, on the surface, for a company. This particular company took the shape of a tailor's shop, on Savile Row. The front windows were occupied by mannequins, dressed like the British gentlemen one sees in the likes of a proper British film. But, this shop was not open yet, not for customers anyways. No, for all the eyes of its employees were fixed upon a large house, outside the city. There, eleven young men were slowly trickling in. They were being gathered and checked off on a clipboard by a bald man with horn-rimmed specks. Behind him, hovered his new superior, who was extremely nervous. He was six-foot-seven with dark skin and close-cropped hair, of which the bald man envied greatly. He did not wear glasses, but they were tucked securely in his coat's breast pocket.

"When is Galahad going to get here to help oversee the training, Merlin?" He asked stiffly.

"He should be here in about an hour, Arthur." Merlin answered evenly, glancing up from his tablet. Arthur nodded.

He looked at the young men again. They were all vying to take the place he left for the position he held now. They were all the bloody same, he thought. Not one of them looked different from their neighbor; not one of them excited him. On top of that, they were one candidate short, at the top of the hour, and this made him even more anxious.

It actually just so happened that the tenth candidate was coming, on the heels of the agent proposing them. The agent in charge of bringing the candidate to the mansion was running according to schedule. His name was Caleb, Caleb Jackson. Jackson was a stout man with dark hair and eyes to match. His suit was perfectly pressed, and his countenance never wavered, even as he walked up the structurally unsound steps of a cheap flat in Camden. He left an hour later, with a young woman behind him. She was dressed in the cleanest clothes she owned, and just by her step, anyone could see how tired she was. It was she, his candidate, that caused them to be so tardy. They got into a cab and sat together in silence. They did not feel too inclined to speak within the earshot of their cabbie.

The car stopped in front of the tailor's shop, on Savile Row. She looked out the window, her eyes wide with anxiety and curiosity. She looked back at Jackson, and he nodded slightly. With that, he stepped out of the car, and she followed. Minutes later, they would be joined by a young man, but not the one currently talking on the phone with his female co-worker on his commute to work.

"Rox, how come I've got to go back to the mansion and help Merlin, huh, with you off saving the world and all." The young man grumbled, frowning at the countryside flying past his window.

"Eggsy, you know that all I'm doing is  _observing_  these guys. We're nowhere  _near_  ready to take them down, and I'm just here, watching them dick about in their castle." She replied, reloading her pistol, "I'd do anything to be back with you lot instead of being here in this  _icebox_."

Eggsy sighed, "Russia. I've always wanted to go there."

"Why?" She frowned.

"Honestly, I'm not sure I want to tell you why." He replied.

"Is it because you want to see just how cold it is?" Roxy asked, "Because I can tell you that it's pretty damn cold."

Eggsy chuckled and watched the road become less proper as they approached the house. "I've gotta go, Rox, I'm pulling up the drive now."

"Good luck." She said gravely, making him smile.

With that, they both took their glasses off. She returned to the target, and he stepped out in front of a large mansion, buttoning the front of his jacket. In the city, Jackson and the candidate stood in front of the shop. Jackson slipped the dark navy button into its hole on the front of his gray suit. The candidate glanced up at him, her face ridden with nerves. Jackson noticed this and looked down the one inch he had on her. She tapped her front teeth together softly behind her closed lips absently, thinking. Suddenly, he smiled at her.

She blinked, and her neck straightened slightly. "What? Have I got something—"

"—No, I'm just glad I can finally propose you as a candidate— _officially_ , I mean." He said, looking back at the shop and returning to his normal glower. "That pompous boy I had to produce last time was doomed. I have not been so humiliated in a long time."

She shrugged, feeling obliged to make him feel like he did not have to apologize to her. "You made a bargain with his father a long time ago, promising him a favor later, and that's when he chose to cash it in."

His jaw was clenched, and his foot tapped the cement twice. "True. And I'm not sure you would've been capable of competing with the rest of the candidates then anyways."

She let out a short huff. "If you don't know who else your colleagues are proposing then how could you possibly know that I could compete this time?"

"You were not capable of keeping to a routine; I did not mean that they were more skilled than you." Jackson turned to look at her. She gave him a look that said:  _not sure that's changed much._

She sighed after a moment, "So, are we gonna get on with it, or what?" She lifted a hand at the door.

He nodded, walking up the steps before her. He held the door open, and spoke as she stepped through, "Never underestimate your ability to act like you're in control."

Her brow furrowed, and she opened the next door for him. She watched as he walked in, and paused for a split second, contemplating his words. She looked up then, seeing another person coming through the first door. He was a young man, well-dressed, with a square jaw and a cocky smile upon his lips. She blinked, and then, suddenly, instead of holding it politely, she stepped through the second doors before him. She looked over her shoulder as she did it, her eyes narrowing slightly as he chuckled lightly and brushed it off. She did not like him. There was no particular reason. He looked like an ass.

He entered the shop slowly, taking his time as he walked over the threshold. She walked over to where Jackson stood at the front desk, glancing over her shoulder at him again. He smiled, and her expression soured. She turned away as she reached Jackson's side, and he turned his attention to the clothes around him. He reminisced then, upon the first time he'd entered this place; how he'd enjoyed the smell of old money and polished wood—two scents he was well accustomed to. He paused for a moment, closing his eyes and taking in the aroma fully.

He pretended to take interest in a tweed jacket, waiting for them to take notice of him. A few moments passed, before the man behind the counter took a step to the side, looking around Jackson at his new customer. He glanced back to Jackson and the candidate,

"Just a minute," he said addressing the newcomer, "Can I help you, sir?"

"Just browsing." The young man said, rubbing the tail of the jacket between his thumb and forefinger. He did not look at his hands though, he stared directly into the shopkeeper's eyes.

The shopkeeper smiled, "Well, just let me know if you need anything."

As he turned back to Jackson, the young man stepped closer to them, with a bemused smile. "I see you've already forgotten me; I have to admit I'm a bit surprised."

They all turned to him. Jackson's eyes narrowed, and the candidate ground her teeth. He stared back at them both.

"Let me refresh your memory." He reached inside his coat.

Jackson shoved the candidate away. The young man pulled a gun out of his side-holster. She fell onto her back, sprawled out on the floor. In one fluid movement, Jackson opened an umbrella he'd taken from the bin near the desk. He returned fire.

The shopkeeper ducked down. The gunman fired at Jackson repeatedly, walking closer with each shot. The candidate yelped, trying to shield her head with her forearm. She crawled behind the counter, where the shopkeeper sat crouched down, covering his ears. He lifted a wrinkled hand, pointing to a door behind her. She craned her neck to look. Frowning, she turned back. The shooting continued. A bullet, from the young intruder's gun, ricocheted off a metal vase in the corner of the room and came to rest right in between the shopkeeper's eyes. His blood sprayed across her face.

He went suddenly limp, his eyes blank, his body slumped against the wood panels. She blinked, gasping. She looked up and around, holding her hands away from her body as if they had blood on them too. " _Jackson—!_ "

She peeked around the desk. The young man seemed to be out of ammunition. Jackson stood up from the floor, tucking his gun in his jacket. He was still behind his umbrella, using it like a knight's shield. Jackson moved forwards. The man's clip was not empty.

His arm snapped up. He tilted the barrel down, shooting out one of Jackson's exposed kneecaps. Jackson cried out, collapsing down. His umbrella was no longer protecting him. The man walked passed a table of silk shirts, reloading the clip. He lifted the gun again.

" _No!_ " The candidate suddenly screamed. The man looked away from Jackson, searching for her. Her wide and almost deranged eyes glared at him from behind the desk. Jackson began to slowly reach into his coat, hoping the man wouldn't notice.

"Come out then, sweetheart." The man spoke sweetly, as he shot Jackson in the shoulder of the arm he was using to try and get his gun.

" _Stop!_ " She skidded out from behind the desk. She scrambled over to Jackson, squatting in front of his bleeding form. "Stop, alright, I'm here, we—I don't know what you want, just  _please—_ "

"— _Enough._ " He snapped, still pointing the gun at her. "I didn't bring you out to listen to incessant babble."

She swallowed. Jackson choked slightly behind her. She tried not to flinch.

"Help him up." The man said.

She shook her head, "He's too weak, he can't—"

"— _Just do it!_ " The man bellowed.

She did not move.

He moved the gun about an inch to his left. He shot a hole right in the desk, next to Jackson's other shoulder. The shopkeeper's lifeless body convulsed as this bullet nested inside his skull, a new neighbor to the first. She cried out, her hands moving absent-mindedly towards her ears. She looked back at him.

" _Do it!_ Or _I will_ shoot him again _._ " The man cried.

She turned around without another word. Looping her arm under his good shoulder and gripping the edge of the desk, she heaved them both to their feet. Jackson leaned heavily against the table. He was in so much pain he was unable to protest or process what exactly was happening. The gunman jerked his weapon towards a door on the right of the shop. She began to move. Jackson murmured something unintelligible, to which she shushed him.

The door was ajar. She used her foot to kick it open all the way. The room was decorated with small trinkets and tools used most commonly by tailors. The room's centerpiece was a three-paneled mirror on the back wall, the dusty glass shining in the dim light. She looked back at the man through it, her eyes flickering to the reflection of his pistol. She stood in the threshold, Jackson leaning against the doorway next to her. She started to turn and the man gave a grunt from behind her. She stopped and stayed still. Her eyes lifted back from the ground and met his again in the middle panel of the mirror. Her hand came to rest on the door's handle.

Suddenly, and without warning, she threw her weight into Jackson, shoving him to the floor. She slammed the door behind her. She pressed her back against the wood and fumbled with the lock. She shifted slightly. The young man took a shot at the door. She screamed, and got down lower, not removing pressure from the door. She looked up and saw that the bullet, however, did not get past the wood. It warped the surface, but for some reason, it did not penetrate the room. She straightened, stepping backward and staring at the door in awe. Jackson let out a weak sound, and she turned around quickly.

"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed as he half crawled, half dragged himself—with the wounded leg and shoulder—over to the mirror. "Jackson—?"

He collapsed onto the ground then but did not go limp. She leapt over, kneeling down next to him. She held most of his weight then, practically cradling him, stomach-down, in her lap. She watched him move speechlessly. He used his left hand to pick up his injured, right arm by the wrist and lifted it to the mirror. Her lips parted in confusion, her head tilting slightly as he used a substantial amount of energy to hold his hand there. A red light appeared about his fingertips like the mirror was scanning his palm. She blinked.

" _Come on, you bloody bastard_ —" Jackson murmured, and then there was a loud bang on the door. The whole room seemed to shake in response. The young man had obviously found something heavy to try and break the door's lock.

She looked back, flinching as the man banged on it again. She turned back to Jackson, and the light turned green. He relaxed, turning over. The bang came again. The door pulled away from the frame slightly, and her eyes widened. The ground lurched beneath them, and she yelped, watching the floor fall slowly down, like an elevator. The door shook again.

" _I'm coming for you!_ " The man screamed from the other side. He knocked again.

She turned from the door when Jackson put a hand on her arm. She slouched closer to the floor, adjusting his head in her lap. He was trying to speak, but the man outside was being too loud. The hand closest to her reached inside his jacket. She watched, unable to understand him. There was another bang, and a piece of the door frame splintered. They were about ten feet down in the fitting room's shaft. Jackson pulled a full clip out of his suit pocket. He offered it to her. She took it, confused. The man hit the door again. She looked up to check the door's integrity. She turned back, and Jackson had pulled a gun out of his other pocket. Her eyes widened.

His hands quaked, holding the gun above his chest. He released the empty clip, and it fell onto his stomach. His eyes betrayed the pain that caused him; hers began to well up. He held the gun up, and she helped him, pressing the full clip into the bottom. A tear fell down her cheek, in response to watching his weak hands shake as they tried to cock the gun. She pulled her hands from his wounds, and placed them over his, helping him finish preparing the gun that was probably going to be his last. He let his hands fall down next to him. The pistol was left in her open palms.

The banging had continued throughout this, but now, the door was really on the verge of falling. She stared at the gun in her hands. She looked at him, and he nodded. He reached up, cupping her neck firmly and guiding her head down as if to whisper in her ear. She bent down to accommodate him. With a piercing cry of agony, he used his bad arm to shove his body off the floor. She fell onto her back, and he laid atop her. The door flew open, twenty feet above them, banging against the shaft walls and coming off its hinges. She screamed as the man emptied the rest of his clip into Jackson's back. She squeezed her eyes shut, and fell silent as the man finished. She lifted one eyelid, watching him standing above her and re-loading his gun at a leisurely pace.

Slowly, her hand shifted out from under Jackson. She lifted her pistol. Air hissed past her lips as she took a deep breath. The gun went off once. The man's hand went to cover his arm. He looked down at her as if he were offended by her shot. She screamed and shot again. She didn't see where it landed, just watched him tumble down to the ground next to her.

Quickly, she shoved Jackson's corpse away. She crawled over to the man's crumpled body. He was on his side, facing away from her. She pulled his shoulder. He snapped about, bloody and deranged, clawing at her face. She cried out, trying to escape. He got above her, as she fell onto her back. Instinctually, she lifted her legs, using both feet to kick him off of her. He flew a few feet to her right.

She scrambled back up straight. She grabbed the gun she'd dropped in the chaos. She tried not to look at Jackson's body next to it. She turned and aimed the gun at the young man. He was lifting his broken body up off the floor again, currently on all fours. She turned away and squeezed the trigger four times. When she was done, the pistol felt so much lighter.

She opened her eyes, and there she was, staring back at herself in the left-most panel of the mirror. She didn't look at the young man directly. She could see his bloody hand lying on the ground, just at the edge of the mirror. She did not allow herself to follow it to the rest of his body.

Instead, she turned to her right. Jackson's body laid face-up on the dark carpet. She scooted over to him, a sob shaking her to the core. Her hands hovered over his chest, trying to find somewhere to start. They fell when she saw that his lungs were still. She let out a horrible moan, crying uncontrollably. She rested her face onto his chest, gripping his shirt and coat in her bloody fingers. Her body quivered with every breath, and she sat back on her heels.

Tilting her face upwards, she began to scream through her tears, her eyes squeezed shut. She covered her face with her hands, and hunched over herself again. She stayed like that until the room shuddered to a halt. She paused, sniffing. She looked about, and then saw a small pod waiting. She stood slowly. Her hand adjusted around the handle of the gun. She used her free hand to smudge the tears and blood across her cheek. She peeked out, looking from side-to-side. Her eyes fell back on the transport. She stopped crying.

***

Eggsy trotted down a series of steps to the mansion's sub-level. The first room at the foot of the stairs was the infirmary, where a young woman was standing. She was tall and thin, a pair of cat-eye spectacles on her nose, with light brown skin and her curly hair tied back into a tight bun. She was looking pensively at a clipboard, a white lab coat on over her chenille sweater, tie, button-down and plaid pencil skirt. Eggsy frowned, and kept walking. He came to a control room at the end of a series of hallways, where he found his friend.

"Eggsy, good on you for finally showing up." Merlin greeted the young agent as he entered the room.

"Traffic was terrible getting out of the city—who was that in the infirmary?" Eggsy replied, coming to stand next to Merlin, looking up at him with a frown.

"Doctor." Merlin said simply, "She'll be in and out throughout this."

He nodded, towards the computers in front of them. Eggsy accepted that he was not going to get a better answer out of Merlin right now, so he turned forwards, crossing his arms. There were two screens in front of them, one with resumes and other text, and another that was security camera footage of a room that looked very familiar to Eggsy. He lifted a finger to point at it, "Is that—?"

"Aye." Merlin nodded once, "Those are the new recruits.

"Oi!" Eggsy cried suddenly, "How come I didn't get to pick someone?"

Merlin looked at him. "You've barely started, Eggsy."

"So?" He replied.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Merlin asked.

Eggsy frowned. They both knew he didn't. Merlin continued to type into the computer.

"So, what's going on? No one's died, have they?"

"No," Merlin typed something into his clipboard, and nine or so pictures of young men, and one girl showed up on the screen, "Our new Arthur was pulled out of retirement, like all the others before him."

"He was retired?" Eggsy interrupted, "He's not that much older than you, is he?"

"We're the same age, actually." Merlin replied in a flat voice.

"How come he was retired, then?" Eggsy did not notice Merlin's tone.

"He was unable to physically do the job anymore."

"How come?"

"Would you stop asking questions, already? We've got things to do you know." Merlin snapped.

Eggsy rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright, Arthur was retired, yeah, and?"

"And, this is the man who took his place after him." Merlin brought up his picture. Eggsy thought passively that Arthur's replacement was not nearly as handsome as he was. Eggsy and Roxy had met the new Arthur a few months ago, and were both sufficiently impressed with him. He was short-tempered and well spoken—two traits that went exceedingly well together. "This bastard turned out to be working with Valentine—we know because his head blew up when we set off the implants."

"Fuckin' spectacular, eh?" Eggsy smirked, imitating Merlin when, months before, they blew up the heads of Valentine's friends. Merlin ignored him with a blank stare.

"He was on 'medical leave' or some such when his implant blew, so we just found out about it. This is for his spot at Kingsman."

"These are the candidates?" Eggsy pointed to the screen.

"Mm." Merlin gave a single nod.

"Alright," Eggsy nodded, "so what am I here for?"

"Well they told me that I should have at least one other agent on hand to help me with the selection process, and since you just went through all of this, I requested you." He tucked his clipboard under his arm, facing Eggsy, "I'm gonna go get them settled, would you like to come?" He spoke in what appeared to be a cheerful manner, but Eggsy still couldn't really tell with him. He decided just to nod in response.

Eggsy followed him out of the tech room, and down the hall. They stepped into the dormitory, and Merlin began talking to the recruits. They all stood with their hands folded behind their backs, listening respectfully to Merlin. Eggsy eyed each of them in turn, recognizing Amelia in the back. Other than she—whom he knew to be a double agent for Kingsman—the recruits looked exactly the same. They were all handsome, and clearly of "good breeding." Not that he should treat such an important part of his agency like entertainment, but he couldn't help feeling bored just  _looking_  at all of them. Slowly, they all began to look horrified at something behind Merlin.

Merlin stopped speaking, and turned to glare at Eggsy, "Goddamn it, Galahad, what the bloody hell are you—" but he too began to stare at whatever was behind him. "—oh  _lordy_."

"What?" Eggsy asked confusedly, spinning abruptly to look behind him, "Holy shit." His eyes widened.

There, in the doorway, a woman stood. Her white shirt, pale skin, and the dark roots of her hair were caked in dried blood; as she let go of the door behind her, it left a faint imprint. She took an unsteady step forward, and Eggsy spotted the contents of her other hand: a Kingsman, standard-issue, pistol. She looked back and forth between Merlin and Eggsy, her empty hand twitching as though the blood were making her feel uncomfortable.

"Woah, woah, woah," Eggsy raised his hands, and all the candidates began to stumble over each other in fear. Eggsy ignored them and stepped closer to her.

" _Shoot her!_ " Someone yelled.

" _Get yourselves together!_ " Merlin snapped at the recruits, and they shut up.

Eggsy took another step, and she didn't protest. She was staring at him with a blank expression. It took him a good few seconds to truly comprehend just  _how much_  blood was on her. It was all over her face, and soaked into the knees of her jeans; on the tips of her eyelashes, crusted into her brows and filling the pores of her skin. She looked insane—almost deranged—and yet so still.

He took another step. He was now close enough to touch her. He surmised that she was in some sort of shock, and not about to shoot twelve unarmed people—Eggsy and Merlin were not allowed to carry live weapons around the recruits for obvious safety reasons. He moved in closer, staring into her eyes. They were a deep emerald sort of green, dull next to the blood. She swallowed, watching his face as his hand moved to take the gun from her. He didn't look away—he couldn't—and she offered no reproach.

" _Will one of you just shoot her already?!_ " A recruit yelled desperately.

" _Shut the fuck up!_ " Eggsy snapped over his shoulder.

He turned back to her. The blood pooled in her palms had a slight stick to it. He pulled his hand away, gun grasped gingerly between his fingertips. Her shoulders suddenly relaxed, as if the gun had been weighing her down.

"Please," she whispered, "will one of you tell me what  _the_   _fuck_  is going on?"

"As soon as I find out," Eggsy smiled easily, touching her hand, "I'll let you know."


	2. Impulsivity Killed the Cat

Eggsy leaned against a wall, arms crossed and a frown on his face, looking out a tall window. There were a few clouds up in the sky now, causing the sunlight to come down in heavenly beams. They lit up the lawn quite beautifully. He glanced over his shoulder. The young woman was in an armchair across the room. She did not look up, although she could feel him staring. She cleaned herself carefully, now rubbing the blood out from in between her fingers with a towel. Eggsy brows furrowed further.

Merlin had just left after checking some of her information and entering it into their database. He'd come in with that doctor Eggsy had seen before. The doctor had been on her way out of the house when Merlin called her to examine the candidate, so she had done her job quickly and without much conversation. She had examined the girl, and then, finding she was virtually uninjured, had given her a damp cloth before she departed. Eggsy watched the girl for a long moment.

"Are you  _really_  from Camden?" He asked suddenly.

She turned quickly to him. "Pardon?"

"That address you gave to Merlin," Eggsy stepped away from the window, "that's a Camden place, ain't it?"

"And?" She raised a brow, continuing to clean her hands without meeting his eye.

He shrugged, "You don't seem like the type."

"And what makes the 'Camden type' then?" She sat back, stopping her work to listen to him.

He paused for a moment, then shook his head slowly. "I don't know. I can't place what it is, but there's something about you."

She turned away and went back to washing herself. His eyes flickered from her face to the towel, now a gentle pink as opposed to its original white. He looked back at her face and studied it.

She was very pretty, in a simple, sort of calm way. Her eyes were large and green—so much so they almost looked fake. Her brown hair fell in waves over her shoulders, rolling down to her waist. She had tied it back earlier. When she'd turned to look at him, the sun had caught on the more caramel-colored strands atop her head. The light had also illuminated the faint smattering of freckles and large pores on the bridge of her nose. When Merlin had asked her some basic questions for her file, she'd given her name as Jemma Marie Sangster. She'd clarified that she had no middle name, just two first names. She'd asked that they refer to her with the first of them only.

From the place he stood now, he could see her right ear. Ears are not typically a point of interest. In fact, he had not been one to pay much attention to  _anyone's_  earrings—she had a square, pale blue stud in the left ear and a small, tarnished silver hoop in the right—but since a Kingsman has to pay special attention to detail, he now made a point of looking at them. The more interesting part of her right ear, though, was the small amount of skin behind it. It was a rather shocking thing, actually; a square patch of disturbed skin, about an inch across. It was lumpy like molten metal that had cooled out of a cast, the colors of her skin mixed with unnatural, darker shades, folding over each other like marble. He could not quite figure out what it was.

The most interesting thing about her to him, though, was how she composed herself. She was held in a constant state of preparedness, as though she were waiting for anything or anyone to burst in and jump at her. It was covered though by a thin veil of confidence like she did not care about how vigilant she appeared to be. It actually seemed to affect the way others perceived her, no matter how useless it sounded when he attempted to describe it.

She caught his stare. He did not look away. She put the towel down on the coffee table. It was next to the gun, which was empty now.

"You about finished?" He asked calmly, nodding to the piece of cloth.

"Mm." She nodded, crossing her arms.

He took the seat across from her and picked up the pistol. His eyes lifted to her. He saw that she'd put her feet up on the edge of her seat. She began to put them down, but he shook his head, "'Doesn't matter."

She nodded again, but still rested one on the ground.

"Where did you meet Jackson?" Eggsy began, business-like, "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it. She narrowed her eyes at him defensively.

Eggsy sighed, "Just answer the question, Jemma."

She looked back and forth between his hazel eyes. "You've seen the video Merlin was talking about?"

He nodded. "I have."

"Fucked up, huh?" She said.

"Yeah." He swallowed.

She sighed and leaned forward, putting her other foot on the ground. "I met this bloke a while back, said his name was Jackson. One day, he sits me down, buys me dinner, and tells me he has a job offer. I'd known him for about three years now, and so I trusted him. He said that he was gonna tell me more later. Months go by, and I hear nothing. Then he comes to me and tells me that this other guy he'd promised a favor to decided to cash in and ask him to put up his son for the job instead of me."

"Alright." Eggsy followed.

"That boy was named Rufus." She said, "He was the one who attacked us, wasn't he?"

He bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. "Yeah, he was."

"Did you know him?" She asked.

"Yeah," He frowned, surprised at the question. "I was fighting him for the job last time."

"And you won, yeah?" She sounded hopeful.

"No, actually, my mate beat me. She got the job, I didn't." He smiled.

"Are you joking?" She grinned disbelievingly, and he shook his head.

"Nah, I really didn't get the job. I got a different one instead." He shrugged. They were silent for a moment.

She looked around them. "I don't know what Jackson was thinking—bringing me here."

Eggsy turned and looked up too. "You don't like the decorations? Too posh?" He smirked.

She smiled in spite of herself, continuing to glance about. "I'm not like him. Material wealth has nothing to do with it; it's the  _air_  about him, you know?"

He'd leaned back in his chair earlier, lying his arm across the back. He raised a brow, shaking his head, "No."

She frowned, trying to think of a better way to explain it. "He never took a step without thinking about it first. I walk around like I've got a blindfold on and don't know how to use my legs."

Eggsy snorted, and Jemma looked up, smiling back at him. She was glad that he'd laughed.

"I can understand that." He said light-heartedly.

They paused for a long moment. She eyed him warily.

"You aren't tailors, are you?" She knew the answer already.

He grinned, "Nah, Jem, we're not.”

***

Eggsy was walking down a hallway a few hours later. He was meandering slowly towards the recruits' room. He was not ashamed to admit that he was thinking about Jemma. He was replaying the shop's security footage in the back of his head. He knew he was not the only one surprised by her—he'd been looking over at Merlin every once and a while as they'd watched the recording. He'd thought it was a bit harsh, showing the tape to the other Kingsmen before they toasted to Jackson's memory. Merlin cut it off before Jemma began to scream. He and Eggsy had already watched it, so even stopping the tape didn't save them from pitying her.

"Did you watch it all?" Eggsy asked Roxy, taking to her through his glasses as he walked. He'd sent her the whole video after the toast.

"Yeah." Roxy said softly. "Rufus… I didn't think—"

Eggsy shook his head. "—Me neither."

They were silent for a long time, both thinking of the horrid documentary.

"You alright?" She asked gently.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He replied, frowning.

"Eggsy," She said pointedly, "you don't fool me."

"I think I've fooled you a good amount of times, actually." He deflected, smirking and trying to play it off as a joke.

She ignored him. "Eggsy."

He paused and sighed angrily. He rolled his eyes and then began walking again. "Alright,  _fine_ , I'm… I'm thinking about Harry—you happy?"

"No!" She answered incredulously, "I'm  _not_  happy that you're sad, Eggsy. I am happy, however, that you admitted it."

He pushed open a door and walked into a small room. To his right, there was a large window, looking in on the recruits' dorm. He crossed his arms, watching at all of them. Jemma was on the right-hand side of the room, bundled up under her blankets. Her eyes were shut, but she wasn't asleep—he could tell.

"Oh," Roxy said gently, "is that her?"

He nodded, "Yeah. That's her."

They both watched her for a moment, then he turned away. He sat down on the ground, leaning against the far wall.

"You wanna talk about it?" She coaxed.

He pursed his lips, trying to hold back but knowing she was going to weasel it out of him eventually. He deflected until then. "How come she's so calm, Rox?"

"What do you mean?" Roxy asked, the frown evident in her voice.

"She's not losing it right now, and she just watched someone she clearly loved die a horrible death." Eggsy said, as though he were jealous of her. "She was smiling earlier."

Roxy thought for a moment. "When you saw Valentine shoot Harry," She began gently, knowing he flinched very slightly at the mention of it, "the first thing you did was put all your energy into avenging him."

"Right." Eggsy nodded.

"Were you alright?" She asked.

"When?" He rubbed his eye tiredly.

"When you got on that plane and stormed Valentine's compound." She responded.

"No," He said thoughtfully, "I was ignoring it."

"She's not alright, Eggsy." Roxy continued, knowing he understood. "She's just patient."

"I don't think anyone can be this patient, Rox." Eggsy said, "She wasn't even mad when she was talking to me earlier."

Roxy shook her head, "She's in shock, Eggsy, and she'll let all of her emotions out, you'll see. Everyone does eventually."

"Not if you're a sociopath." He pointed out.

"You really think she's a sociopath?" Roxy smirked, and he shook his head, smiling too.

"Nah." He replied, "But then again, you usually can't tell with the smart ones."

She laughed with him, and they were silent for a moment.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Eggsy." Roxy spoke softly. "Grief is a slow torture. And you're not weak or—or un-Kingsman-like for  _feeling_. Harry was a great man, and you have  _every right_  to still hold onto him."

Eggsy nodded, taking his time to answer. His voice cracked very slightly as he spoke, "I know, Rox."

He was trying not to let her hear that he was crying. His face was contorted in an effort to subdue it, his breath held in his throat so he would not sniff. He stayed very still, but she knew what he was doing anyway. It was due to the nature of their friendship, which was much more profound than any others they'd had before; they were partners, in a sense, and Eggsy imagined that even if Harry hadn't died, and he'd never gotten into Kingsman, he'd still speak with Roxy. She also knew he was crying because she'd met him. Anyone who met Eggsy could tell he was not afraid of feeling, just maybe showing that he did.

She sighed sadly. "You don't need to hide it from me, or Merlin—or from anyone, for that matter. You've got every right to miss him, and you'll feel better if you just open up about it already."

"I just did, didn't I?" Eggsy laughed gently at her pointed tone. He'd gotten himself to stop crying before she's spoken.

"I had to practically  _force_  it out of you, didn't I?" She replied indignantly, making him chuckle again.

"Yeah, well," He sighed, playing with his fingers, "I can't go making it easy on you  _now_ , I have appearances to uphold."

She laughed softly, and they fell into a calm quiet. Eggsy watched the glass, and so did she. They could only see the ceiling from where he sat, and maybe a bit of the toilets if he straightened, but he did not. A few of the recruits appeared, each time Roxy asking for their names so she could peruse their files. Jemma came to the mirror after a while, and unwrapped the toothbrush Merlin had given her—her things were coming tomorrow—beginning to brush her teeth slowly. She did not look up into her own reflection, but stared down into the sink bed, watching the water run down the drain. She finished, cupping her hands to scoop water up to rinse her mouth. She flipped her head back to gurgle and then spat. Her eyes stayed on the drain for a second, running the water to make sure she didn't leave any residue. Her head lifted slowly, and without thinking, she looked into her own eyes. She paused suddenly, forcing a ball of spit down her throat.

When she'd been getting into the transport, she'd turned back to look at Jackson's body. Her eyes had lifted then—accidentally—to her own reflection. It had only been for a split second, but that was all she'd needed. She could see that girl now, in this mirror. She had not been wearing her glasses—she was nearsighted—when she'd spotted her bloody reflection, and yet she had been able to see herself with perfect clarity, even from twenty feet away. As she looked at her reflection now, she could see the tear streaks she'd wiped away, the sweat she'd washed off in the shower, and the blood— _so much blood_. She was beginning to feel it all over her skin. She glanced down into the palms of her upturned hands and thought she saw more of it. In the logical, back of her mind, she knew she'd washed it off earlier that night, but it didn't matter.

She could not see Eggsy frowning at her, as she began to scrub her hands viciously. When she finished, she slammed the water off. She gripped the edges of the sink with both hands. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at herself again. She glared at her own reflection, as if not telling herself, "you can do this," but  _commanding_ , "you  _will_  do this." She took another breath, becoming calmer. She turned on the sink again and washed her hands one last time, much more relaxed now.

She was shaking her hands dry when one of the other recruits approached her from behind. Eggsy sat away from the wall expectantly. The boy pushed her aside, taking her sink instead of the other open ones. He said something to her as he did so, but Eggsy couldn't tell what it was. She stared up at him from the next sink, which was where she'd landed after he'd shoved her. It was not a particularly rough push, but the sentiment behind it was. Eggsy stood and walked closer to the mirror.

She glared incredulously at the other recruit, trying to figure out if he was serious. He finished washing his hands, and turned to her pompously, wiping them on a towel. He raised his brow, and said something with an expression that Eggsy read as: "I am an asshole, and I don't give a damn."

Without any warning, she stood up straight and punched him right in the nose. Eggsy blinked and stepped back slightly. The boy stumbled, hand covering his nose.

"Oh, my— _oh my god!_ " Roxy gasped.

Everyone else in the room was looking at the pair of recruits. The boy pulled his bloodied fingertips away from his nose and stared at them disbelievingly. She breathed heavily above him, her face conflicted between anger and regret. He looked up at her, and Eggsy could read his lips clearly as he yelled, " _bitch!_ "

He leapt up at her. She dodged, very nearly avoiding his open arms. Stumbling, she fell against a shower. He straightened and turned slowly towards her. She fixed the shower awkwardly, then turned back to him. He grabbed the front of her shirt and yanked her towards him. She yelped, grabbing his wrists.

"Rox, I've gotta—" Eggsy was cut off as the recruit spun Jemma about and slammed her against the mirror. The glass wobbled and Eggsy stepped back slightly, worrying about its integrity. He ran out of the room and began sprinting down the hallway, talking fast, "— _I've gotta go, I'll call you back!"_

Jemma struggled against the other recruit, who'd pinned her to the mirror, and atop a sink. She stopped fighting the hands she could not budge and used both feet to kick him in the stomach. He went skidding backward, landing in an open toilet. The other recruits laughed—neither he nor Jemma noticed. She waited for him to stand. She stood with her feet apart and kept direct eye-contact with him the whole time. He wiped his nose and rolled his shoulders. He stepped forward. She didn't move.

He put up his hands, nodding at her to put up hers. She smiled sarcastically and then tried to kick him in the crotch. He moved his hips slightly, seeing the attack coming. She stubbed her toes against his pelvis. Her hand shot out, and he grabbed her. He yanked her closer, so she was flush against him. Her arm was across her chest, trapped between them both, underneath his chin. He smiled darkly and she huffed.

"Come on, love," he said, leaning closer, "give us a  _kiss_."

She let out a mangled cry, " _Fuck off—you_ ** _bastard!_** "

Using her free hand, she grabbed his ear. She yanked it harshly, causing him to yelp. While he was distracted, she bent her trapped arm, elbowing him in the collarbone. He didn't let go, though. He simply shook her hand off his ear and spun her about. He pushed her backward. Her tailbone hit the foot of a recruit's bed, and she watched the owner of said cot jump out of the way in her peripheral vision.

The boy was beginning to push her arm further than it was meant to go. She cried out and kneed him ungracefully in the balls. He bent down, but still didn't let go. She let out another cry and began to force his arm away. She slipped free and accidentally whacked him in the face. He pulled back, spluttering. She took this split second to duck clumsily away from him. She scrambled out into the aisle, falling onto her knees. She began to get up again. A figure stepped in front of her.

"Woah," Eggsy's low voice said to her. She looked up at him, her eyes still full of blind rage.

"Someone oughta put a fucking muzzle on you!" The recruit yelled.

Jemma jumped up and lurched towards him. Eggsy caught her and restrained her in a sort of hug.

" _Jemma!_ " He murmured into her ear, in a vain attempt to calm her.

"You're a  _fucking pig!_ " She spat over Eggsy's shoulder, ignoring him.

"Alright, that's enough." Merlin said pointedly, stepping in between them, and silencing everyone. He looked back and forth between the pair of recruits. "That was bloody  _pathetic!_ "

Jemma looked down, scowling to herself. He turned to Eggsy and nodded towards her. "Take a walk."

She blinked incredulously but did as she was told. She did not, though, go without showing her anger. The door shut behind her, and Eggsy turned back to Merlin. His face told Eggsy to go make sure she didn't do anything dumb. He walked out of the dorms and glanced about. He heard a noise from around a corner and followed it. She was facing a wall and punching it furiously.

"Oi, come on, don't hit that," Eggsy said, making her turn to him, "what've they done, huh?"

She huffed exasperatedly and looked away from him. She returned her gaze to the wall and then sighed. She leaned her back against it, exhausted. Eggsy thought for a moment. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and jerked his head back in the direction from whence they came. "Come here."

He lead her back past the dormitory, to a door tucked into a corner of the hall. He held it open for her. She looked up suspiciously, walking in. The lights came on automatically, allowing her to see that it was a gym. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, looking about in awe. He smiled, letting the door fall closed.

He stood next to her. He bent slightly, and leaned a bit closer to her, pulling a hand out of his pocket and pointing at a punching bags, "Hit that."

She looked down, listening to him. "Shouldn't I wrap my hands or something?"

"If you like." He shrugged, "I don't think you're going to be staying here for too long though, so maybe not tonight."

"Tonight?" She glanced up at him, "You mean I can come back?"

"There's no lock, it's for you lot." He replied, looking back at her.

She stood there for a long moment. Finally, he sighed and turned away. She looked back anxiously. She was expecting him to be leaving her and wanting him to stay. He was merely taking off his jacket and glasses, putting them on a bench near the door. He walked back to her, rolling up his sleeves.

"Come on, then." He walked past her, and she followed.

He took the far bag, nodding for her to take the other one. She was punching it for a few minutes in silence, letting out her residual anger. She began to lose steam after a while; she had not been focusing on retaining her stamina. She began to watch him. He was punching with considerable force, and he wasn't even breaking a sweat. He was controlling how much energy he used. She turned back to her bag and sighed disappointedly. He finished a set and looked over at her. He stepped across the mats and smiled encouragingly.

"Had you ever thrown a punch before today?" He asked casually, leaning against her bag and crossing his arms.

"Mm." She nodded, wiping something off the bag with her index finger. "A few times."

"I thought so." He nodded, looking at her knuckles; they looked a bit worse for wear.

"It was never my choice though." She added. "I didn't mean to hit him, I just… I just couldn't help it."

He didn't answer, just looked at her sympathetically. She avoided his gaze.

"You aren't giving me a lecture." She glanced up at him.

He shrugged, "I can give you one if you'd like."

She smiled in spite of herself, looking down again. "I think I'm alright, thanks. I just expected you to give one when you came out."

"I ain't that kind of agent, Jem." He said warmly. "But Kingsman is a fan of them, so I'll make it quick. Here's my lecture: dickheads are always gonna be in the world."

She let out a snort of laughter, and he smiled, continuing.

"You just gotta get them out of your head. Pick your fights, and then kick their fucking asses."

She smirked and turned back to the bag. "I'd have to say that's the best lecture I've ever heard."

"Mm, it did come out pretty good, didn't it?" He gave her a cheeky smile.

She laughed softly. She quieted, thinking for a moment. She stared at the bag. He wasn't sure what she was contemplating, but he had a few ideas.

"You alright?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes, but it was to herself, not to him. "I feel so humiliated."

"Why?" He frowned.

"He was all over me and I couldn't get away from him! I looked like such a fool!" She punched the bag angrily. He leaned back, eyeing her surprisedly.

"Alright well, it is your  _first night_ , you know." He pointed out, relaxing against the bag again.

She scowled at the bag and hit it again. "I'm still just so fucking angry! I couldn't get him off of me. I felt so out of control of—of—of the whole situation! I just— _ugh!_ "

She kicked the bag forcefully, and Eggsy stepped back. It swung about lazily, and she looked up at him. He was raising an impressed brow.

"Sorry." She murmured.

He shook his head, telling her it didn't matter. "You know, Jem, he  _is_  about twice your size. It's not unusual for those kinds of people to seem stronger."

"Seem?"

"Yeah," He nodded, "untrained, you see them as stronger. He gets into your head because he's taller and whatever, but it's not about that. Really, it's about how smart you are."

She stared up at him, listening. He stopped the bag from swinging and stepped next to her.

"Here," He looked from the bag back to her, "you were using your elbows and knees, which are probably your best assets, so good on you for that one."

"Thanks." She smiled tiredly.

"You started off well too." He added, "You definitely had the element of surprise."

She let out a laugh, "Thank you."

"Just telling it like it is." Eggsy shrugged, making her smile again. "Where you went wrong was when you let him get ahold of you."

She nodded, frowning and thinking about what he was saying.

"Because then you got distracted and scared."

"Oi! I wasn't scared!" She said indignantly.

"Alright, sorry," He chuckled, "you were… taken by surprise."

She nodded, approving of his description. He smirked and then she continued.

"So what you're saying is that I should've run away more." She asked.

"No, no—well," He thought for a moment, "it depends. In the case of that fight, he was definitely relying only on his strength, so yes. Did you notice how he was using only offensive moves? That's how you know you should be on defense. You've gotta start thinking like that when you fight. If he's coming after you, just let him get tired out punching air."

"In the case of  _that_  fight?" She repeated, "You mean you lot are able to think about every variable when you're fighting?"

"Yeah." Eggsy nodded. "That's one of the greatest bits about this whole thing—other than the suits, of course."

"Huh." She said, preoccupied with her thoughts. "You're really gonna teach me all that?"

"Of course." He nodded, "By the time we're done with you, that dickhead won't be able to  _touch_  you."

She smiled up at him and he reflected the look back at her. He nodded towards the door.

"Come on, then, you'll be back in here tomorrow." He began to usher her out, "You've gotta go get some rest; those hands'll be sore in the morning."

She groaned as she walked out, "I thought you said I didn't need to wrap them, though!"

"They're gonna be sore from hitting that guy in the fucking  _nose_." He laughed, and she blushed, chuckling as well.

She stopped before opening the dormitory door, as he spoke to her again.

"I'm sorry, Jemma." He said softly. She looked down at the ground, and he continued. "I'm sorry about Jackson."

She turned back to look at him after a moment. She took a breath and gave him a weak smile. "Thanks, Galahad."

He nodded once, hands in his pockets, a solemn look on his handsomely square face. "Night then, Jem."

"Night." She slipped into the room.

He turned to find Merlin down the hall, outside the command room. Eggsy began to walk over.

Merlin nodded after her, remarking, "That one's got a lot of spirit."

"Mm." Eggsy agreed, turning from the dormitory door and looking up at him, "You think that's a good thing?"

Merlin shrugged, "Could be, could not. I don't know really, I'm not a magician."

Eggsy smirked at the joke and followed Merlin inside the control room. He paused in the doorway, holding the door open and listening. He looked down the hallway. He felt like he was being watched, for some reason. It was empty. He shook his head and closed the door. The corridor was silent then for a long moment. Then, a form slipped from around a corner, and into the dormitory. All the cameras saw was an empty hallway.


	3. Almost Drowning Before a Funeral

Eggsy fell asleep on the couch behind Merlin's desk. He'd brought it down with Roxy the last time they were here, since the chairs that Merlin had hardly deserved the name. Merlin liked to act offended about the whole situation, but he had taken his fair share of naps on it too. Eggsy's watch went off, causing him to stir. He sat up blearily and looked about. He turned the alarm off, and saw Merlin still in his chair, working on something for another agent.

"Good evening, sleeping beauty." He said sarcastically, spinning around to look at Eggsy.

"Did you set an alarm on my watch?" Eggsy asked incredulously.

"Yes. And?" Merlin raised a brow.

"You're a terrible human being." Eggsy said flatly. He stood anyways and looked over Merlin's shoulder at the dorm room's video feed. "You just about ready to drown them?"

Merlin nodded, and he almost looked excited. "Should we head down, then?"

Eggsy raised a brow. He straightened. shaking his head. "You get way too much joy out of this."

"What?" Merlin called after him indignantly. He turned back to the computers as Eggsy left the room. Shaking his head, he began to prepare the room.

Although it was still the same night, Eggsy felt like it was ages ago that Jemma got into the fight. He was thinking about it now because he was back inside that small room, looking at the dark dorm. He looked up as Merlin joined him.

"I've set the countdown," Merlin said, working on his clipboard. He paused and checked his watch, "the room should start filling up in about… now."

They both looked up and waited a moment. Nothing happened. Eggsy frowned, "You sure you—"

"—I just set it, I don't know why it's…" Merlin replied bewilderedly.

Out of the floor, the water suddenly appeared. Eggsy blinked, and looked over at Merlin, "That's bloody terrifying!"

Merlin nodded, "Yeah, I reckon that's the point."

Eggsy rolled his eyes and turned back to the room. The first one to wake up was a kid who was sleeping on his stomach. He jumped up, spluttering and looking like a fool. Eggsy laughed aloud and turned to look at Merlin, who was stone-faced.

"Oh, come on, that was funny." Eggsy pointed to the boy. Merlin only shrugged nonchalantly. They both turned back.

Jemma was lying on her side, her back to the mirror. She woke up to water in her ear. She sat up slightly, confused. Then she saw it swallowing up the ground around her. She jumped up and looked about. She looked at the guy next to her, who was tangled up in his sheets. She stepped off her bed, hissing as the cold water reached her waist. Through the water, she helped him loosen the sheets around him. When he was free, the water was up to her collarbone and still rising. She jumped up onto his bed as well and began to look at everyone else, to see if they needed help.

Her eyes fell on the door. She didn't pause to think before diving towards it. She swam over and tugged on the handle. It didn't budge. She rose to the top. There were only four feet of open space left. She looked about, wiping the water out of her eyes. Everyone around her dove under, swimming towards the showers.

" _Shit!_ " She yelled, knowing she missed whatever idea they'd come up with.

She spun around in the water, looking for something she could use to hold some air under the water. She needed something plastic, like a bag or something, but all she had was the clothes on her back. Two feet left. She turned, looking to see what the other recruits were doing. She squinted slightly, rising along with the water. Her head bumped the ceiling. She sucked in the largest breath she'd ever taken, and let herself sink into the water.

She did not like opening her eyes when submerged. She blinked profusely, looking about. She swam towards the other recruits. She dipped down, in between two of them, and looked about, still trying to find the way out. She was beginning to run out of air, so she turned to her right. One of the boys was next to her, and, taking a breath from his tube, he pretended not to see her. She scowled, and then spun, grabbing the last shower head. She ripped it off, her face contorted in pain. She unscrewed the head, floating above the barrier in between the toilets as she did. She dove down next to another recruit, across from the one who pretended not to see her. Without asking, she shoved her tube down the toilet next to his. She took a breath, glowering at the boy who'd refused to help her.

She exhaled and seemed to relax. She turned around, and crossed her legs, floating down to the floor. She sat there, glowering, and leaning against a toilet. She continued to use the breathing tube, closing her eyes to give them a break from the chlorine. She opened them and looked at them all in the mirror. She scowled at her reflection and turned away. She was extremely disappointed in herself—she wasn't proving that she was any good at anything. She scratched her sternum and took another breath.

Eggsy watched them with a frown from behind the glass. "What happens if they don't break the mirror?"

Merlin shrugged, "Then I guess they aren't Kingsmen."

Eggsy laughed, and then looked at him. "You are joking, right?"

"When you did this, it was a record. Usually, it takes them a bit of time before someone figures it out." Merlin answered. Eggsy nodded and turned back to the glass.

Amelia was in the back corner, floating about. She had a device Merlin had concocted sometime ago that allowed her to breathe underwater. She was quite good, actually, she didn't look like she was breathing at all. Eggsy wondered what she did to keep herself occupied in that back corner. He thought it rather boring, waiting for them to figure it out.

"How come you can't tell them to hurry it up, huh?" Eggsy asked, shifting his weight. It had been about ten minutes now, and they were still floating there without moving.

A minute or two after Merlin ignored that question, they began to each look about separately. Jemma was one of the first to start searching. Her eyes fell upon the mirror. She stared at it for a moment, thinking. Something about the way it had felt, or about the way it had sounded when the recruit had slammed her against it was making her question the seemingly inconspicuous object. She stared at it for a long moment, and then went elsewhere.

She ducked about, looking under the sinks to see if there was a clue there. She went over to the other side of the toilets, making sure to keep her thumb over the opening of her tube. A boy offered to hold it for her, and she nodded, adventuring out further. She swam down, and looked under one row of beds, watching others with larger lungs search farther. She swam back to the boy, and took her tube back, nodding thanks. She took a few breaths, and her eyes caught on the mirror again. She frowned, thinking. She turned away again.

"Oh come on!" Merlin and Eggsy cried in unison.

She looked under the other row of beds, and then rose up. She swam back to the tube, and let the boy take a turn looking about. Most of the group had split off now, and they were doing the same, but none of them were making any progress. She took a breath, watching her partner ascend towards the ceiling. She glanced about. Her eyes fell upon the mirror again. She looked back at him, and then to the mirror again. Another kid swam past the sinks, searching for something. She took another breath, staring herself down in the mirror. She could not get herself to go over to it.

The boy tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned, handing him his tube. She pointed to the mirror as he took a breath. He shrugged, and she looked back at it. She took another breath, then held out the tube to him. She swam forwards and examined it. She touched it with her finger and looked at the reflection of her hand. It didn't seem right—something was off about it. She couldn't stop thinking about how daft she'd look if the mirror didn't have anything to do with it.

Finally, she got herself to test her hypothesis. She rapped her knuckles against it and listened. She leaned back, surprised at the noise it made—it sounded hollow. Her face brightened, and on the other side, Eggsy couldn't help but grin too. She spun about and swam back to the boy. She took a final breath from the tube, dropping it before she returned to the mirror. He blinked and watched the tube sink down. He looked up at her, eyes wide with anxiety.

She glided through the water and stood inside one of the sinks. She looked about, and then gripped the faucet with her left hand. She lifted her right fist and hit the glass. It wobbled, and she looked up, watching it excitedly. She pulled her hand back again. The cuts in her knuckles were opening and her blood was leaking out into the water. She was prepared to continue, despite the pain it caused her.

Behind her, there was another boy, who'd been sitting still, by himself the entire time. He had not moved to look anywhere around the room. She hit it again, wincing and shaking her hand in an effort to relieve the pain. Suddenly, he dropped his tube too, swimming away from his perch. He reached out, grabbing a showerhead that had been floating near him, and another that had gotten caught under a sink.

She lifted her hand to hit the glass again when suddenly, he tapped her on the shoulder. She whipped about, and then relaxed, seeing who it was. He offered her one of the showerheads he'd picked up on the way over. She glanced down at it, and then nodded, smiling as best she could under water. She took it from his hand and braced herself atop the sink once more.

"That's Rusty, ain't it?" Eggsy asked, glancing over at Merlin.

He nodded, "He's a clever one. I could see him eyeing that mirror from the beginning."

Taking the sink next to hers, Rusty lifted the other he'd found. He turned, and they nodded to each other, both happy to take this leap alongside someone else. They raised their hands and hit the mirror in unison. They pulled back together, listening to the glass. He paused and he let her go again before taking a turn. She slammed the metal against the mirror, and it cracked. She blinked, her face lighting up. He smiled shyly back at her, as she spun to watch him take a turn. His showerhead ruptured the crack more. She pulled her arm back, her face set.

"This is the one." Merlin said, stepping out of the way.

"Roger that." Eggsy followed, watching them proudly. He wasn't sure why he felt that way. Maybe it was because those were the two candidates that he liked the best thus far. He thought it kind of a shame that they were working together. Jemma did not seem like the type of person to give up ambition for friendship, no matter how much she might regret it later.

Her hand flew through the water and hit the glass with the fury Eggsy had seen before. She floated back a bit, watching the glass crack under the water's pressure. The showerhead slipped out of her palm. The recruit who'd been holding her tube dropped his, swimming to her right side. Rusty moved back from his sink to hover on her left. Her face was discoloring again, but it didn't matter; she was confident in her decision. Everyone else behind them turned to watch the mirror crack and then shatter completely.

The water swept them unforgivingly into the small room. They tumbled atop of one another, landing sprawled out on the grated floor. Jemma sat up quickly, gasping. She touched her chest and looked about. She blinked her sore eyes over and over again. She found Eggsy first, and there was a split second where they just looked at each other. Her eyes moved to Merlin as the others straightened. She looked back at Eggsy, and her face broke into a grin. She turned to the boy who'd given her the shower head.

She offered him her hand, "Jemma."

He took it, a shy smile on his face, "Rusty."

"Lovely to meet you." She beamed. Behind her, the boy who'd held her tube for her caught his breath. She turned as he spoke,

"Thank you," He said between heavy breaths, offering her a hand as well, "thank you for helping me out of those bloody sheets."

She nodded, smiling and taking his hand with a bit less gusto than when she'd taken Rusty's. "Sure, thing, uh...?"

"James," He supplied, nodding, "a pleasure to finally introduce myself, Jemma."

She smiled gratefully, and began to relax, laying down on back. Eggsy looked up at Merlin, finding him scribbling notes down onto his clipboard.

"Congratulations, you've all just finished your first test." Merlin said emotionlessly, looking up at the recruits. "Ari, good job, remembering your basic physics; getting a breathing tube 'round the u-bend of a toilet gives you an unlimited air supply." He nodded at a tall blonde boy and he blushed slightly.

"As for the rest of you," Merlin looked at all of them in turn, "that took  _far_ longer than it should have."

The recruits' faces fell almost simultaneously.

"You all broke off and looked for yourselves, not for the  _team_. A  _Kingsman_  doesn't just think of himself; he thinks of  _everyone._ " Merlin pointed to Amelia's body. Eggsy found that she was in almost the same exact position as when he'd been training. He was mildly impressed.

The recruits all stood, looking in on the scene like children at a zoo. Jemma stood on her tiptoes and tried to look over their shoulders, to no avail. She walked around, frustrated by the height of her classmates. Wand when her eyes fell on Amelia, she froze, mid-step. She forced her mouth shut and swallowed. She looked down, folding her lips together. She did not take pleasure in staring at Amelia's body like some sort of attraction or exhibit.

"Jemma, James, and Rusty should  _not_  have been the only ones working together." Merlin continued, the three turning to look at him as he said their names. "You all were thinking about yourselves—you especially." Merlin used his pen to point at the kid who'd been happy to let Jemma drown.

"What—?" The boy began, but Merlin cut him off.

"—I don't know why the bloody hell you ignored her, Evan, but I do know that you've got no place here. And as far as I'm concerned you can just pack your things and go."

"All of my shit's been  _soaked!_ " The boy cried. It was then that Eggsy realized he'd been the one picking a fight with Jemma before. He almost chastised himself for not noticing sooner, but they all looked the fucking same to him.

"That's not his problem." Eggsy said, his arms crossed. He met Jemma's eye, seeing a look of excitement and disbelief. He found himself winking at her. He turned back, "Come on, then, I'll escort you out."

"What—you're  _kidding me_ , right?!" Evan spluttered.

"Nope." Merlin said.

Eggsy put a hand on Evan's back and pointed towards the door. "Shall we?"

The boy turned back over his shoulder, glancing at the other recruits incredulously. He looked to Jemma and found her standing, brows raised defiantly, flipping him off.

***

Eggsy stood next to Merlin above the pyramid of puppy cages. He glanced back and forth between Merlin and the recruits, his mouth set in a firm line. He thought this expression was very professional. Merlin set the recruits lose, after taking note of each person's dog. Jemma took her pup and went back to stand in between Rusty and James again. It was fascinating how they all gravitated towards one another after working together just once.

That morning, Eggsy had taken immense pleasure in escorting Evan off the grounds. As he'd walked back into the house, he'd found Merlin waiting for him. He'd handed Eggsy a tablet, with an email from Arthur. It'd said that, if she were so inclined, Jemma was to be given the option to attend Jackson's funeral—supervised, of course. Merlin had asked for Eggsy to tell her after she chose her puppy. The funeral was that afternoon.

This was why Eggsy was alone inside his room, pacing about. The recruits were given an hour to begin training their puppies. Most of them were inside, but he knew that she was in the back field. He should just get it over with, except there was this fear he had; it was of her saying yes. He knew he'd have to accompany her. He knew that he would be visiting an old friend—he knew he'd be visiting Harry.

He had this feeling in the pit of his stomach like he was going to see Harry, still alive, and find him disappointed. It didn't matter that it was impossible for a dead person to be anything, let alone disappointed because it had been the last emotion he'd seen on Harry's face before he left that day. Before he had been killed, Eggsy had disappointed him beyond belief. He had not lived to see Eggsy finally reign victorious over the forces that he'd let keep him down all his life. Maybe that was what drove his dedication to the agency; maybe he thought that Harry could see him, somehow, and maybe wherever he was, he wasn't so disappointed anymore. Eggsy would tell himself that Harry picked him for a reason—he picked him for  _this purpose_ —but he never felt much different.

Sighing, he went out onto the back deck, made completely from marble. He looked about and then spotted her, running around with the dog nipping at her heels. She was laughing and spinning about. She was waving her hands around and riling the dog up. The pup was growling as they played, its leash dragging on the ground behind them. Suddenly, Jemma stopped. Eggsy began walking down the steps towards her. She held the ball up and pointed to the dog.

" _Sit_." She said pointedly. The dog didn't move. Jemma stared at it and waited. She repeated the word, and then bent down, pushing the puppy's back gently so it sat down. She clicked a small device and pulled out a treat. She beamed as the pup gobbled it up. She looked up, tossing her hair out of the way. She smiled at Eggsy as he approached.

"Galahad," Jemma said warmly. She tucked some of her hair behind her far ear, the wind still blowing them gently across her cheek. "How are you?"

"I'm good." He nodded, walking slowly with his hands in his pockets. He looked at the dog, "I see you've already started training this one."

"Mm," She nodded proudly, "I may not know much, but I do know a thing or two about dogs."

He laughed, as he came closer to her. "You do, do you?"

"I think so…" Jemma beamed at the puppy, "My dad loved dogs, so we had a bunch growing up. Airedales, actually, which are a bit like this one, only bigger. And less expensive, I'd reckon."

He smiled, "What's his name, then?"

" _Her_  name," Jemma scooped her up, bringing her over to meet Eggsy, "is George."

Eggsy chuckled, petting the excited pup. He looked up from George into Jemma's eyes. "Should I even ask how that works?"

She smiled, "It's short for Georgianna. I thought that George might be a bit easier to shout at the top of my lungs."

He laughed, nodding. "She named after anyone?"

"Georgianna Darcy?" Jemma said slowly, anxious about his reaction.

He frowned bemusedly, "Who's that, then?"

"Just a character from a book." Jemma shook her head absently, "My mum always thought it'd be a good name for a dog."

He dropped his hand, from George's head and watched Jemma converse with her for a moment. Jemma looked back to Eggsy as George began to squirm. "She is  _not_  the biggest fan of cuddles, but I'll win her over yet."

"I'm sure." Eggsy gave her a tight smile.

She cocked her head, and put George down, holding the leash so she wouldn't scamper off. "You alright?"

He nodded and tucked his hands back into his pants. He took a breath and then was out with it. "Jackson's funeral is today."

Her face went slack, but she didn't look away from him.

"Arthur's granted you permission to attend—only if you'd like, though." Eggsy finished.

She blinked and looked down. She glanced over at George, and then back to him. "Yes. Yes, I, uh, I would like to go, if it's not too much trouble."

"None at all." Eggsy shook his head.

She sighed gratefully, relaxing a bit. "Thank you, Galahad."

He knew she was thanking him for going with her. "Of course.”

***

The Kingsmen were buried in a special cemetery, on the outskirts of London. Eggsy had not been there since he, Roxy and Merlin had watched men lower Harry's casket into the ground. He was not overjoyed to be going back.

He waited in front of the house, leaning his back against a car, with his arms crossed. He'd asked just to drive himself, and so they'd given him an old convertible. It was typical Kingsman to give him a beautiful car to take a girl to a funeral. She walked down the steps, a phone pressed to her ear, wearing a black trench coat they'd gotten from a closet in the house. George walked with her, tugging on her lead and trying to smell everything

"…Thanks." She said into the receiver. "Yeah, I've gotta go."

She stood next to him and stared off into the car, still on the phone. He turned only his head to watch her. George sniffed about around their feet.

"Yeah." She nodded, "I love you too."

She hung up, and held the phone out to him, "Thanks."

"Sure." He nodded.

She walked around him and opened the passenger side door. She sat down, scooping up George into her lap. He moved to shut the door for her. Before he did though, he bent down slightly and asked her a question. "Your friend alright?"

Jemma nodded, "Yeah, she'll be fine. She didn't know him well."

He gave a nod and shut the door. He walked around and slid into the driver's seat. He turned on the car, glancing over at her. She had her elbow on the top of the door, her hand scratching the hairs at the top of her forehead. George sat on her lap, with her nose in the air, attempting to identify all the smells around her. Jemma pet George's back absently. She looked over at Eggsy, as he began to pull the car forwards.

They rode in silence, taking mostly quiet, backroads to their destination. When they reached the cemetery, Eggsy hesitated with her to get out of the car. Counting to five, he made himself move. He opened the door, just as she did. They got out and straightened their coats. George scampered about at the end of her leash, trying to take in everything. He walked around to Jemma, as she waited for him. Overcome by a sudden urge, he offered her his arm. She glanced down at it, and then took it. As they began to walk, she gripped it without a word.

Eggsy and Jemma were the only two there. She did not stop holding his arm the whole time, nor did she speak a single word. George resigned herself to lying on the ground, using Jemma's shoe as a pillow. All around them, there were bouquets of flowers, presumably from all of the other Kingsmen. They were of a distinct color palette—only gentle pinks, yellows, whites, and blues. She stepped away from his side slightly before they lowered the casket. George stood excitedly, thinking they were going to go explore. Keeping her hand in the crook of his elbow, Jemma pulled a white chrysanthemum from one of the arrangements. She came back, sliding her arm back around his completely. He stepped forward with her as she placed it atop the mahogany box. George leaned across the gap in the ground, sniffing the casket carefully. The whole thing took less than an hour.

They were walking away when Eggsy caught sight of the backside of a familiar headstone. He stopped, and she was not opposed to doing the same. She followed his gaze and saw the grave. He began to walk towards it, pulling his arm gently away, thinking that she wouldn't want to come. She walked slowly after him. They stood silently in front of the headstone for a long moment. Eggsy stared blankly, as Jemma read the inscription, a few feet behind him. Eggsy hiked up his slacks and crouched down, putting a hand on the stone.

"Hey, Harry." He said softly, his voice cracking slightly.

Her eyes followed him.

"How're you doing, then?" Eggsy continued, shifting his weight slightly.

She looked down, folding her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry I haven't been 'round, lately. I've been a bit busy; saving the world and all." Eggsy gave the headstone a sad smile, rubbing the top of it slowly. "I've come to bring a new recruit to Jackson's funeral. He's gone now too."

Jemma could not hear what he was saying to the grave, and she thought it to be better that way. She shuffled around slightly, trying to look anywhere but at his mourning figure. She was unable to keep her eyes away.

"I wish I could talk to you, Harry. I want... I want to let you know how—"He glanced down at the ground and continued, his voice barely a whisper, "I'm just... I'm so sorry, Harry."

He clapped the top of the headstone and stood, trying to hide the overwhelming rush of emotions he felt crashing around inside him. He turned to Jemma, who looked up at him nervously. He walked back towards her, pointing over his shoulder to the grave.

"He was the one who proposed me for Kingsman." He supplied.

"I'm sorry." She said softly after a moment.

"Mm." He nodded, "Me too."

She slipped her arm through his again. It was not for her this time; it was for him. He may not want anyone to know about how he felt, but that didn't stop them from knowing anyways. She read the words a few more times in her head, and then he spoke again.

"I'm sorry you have to know what it feels like." Eggsy said softly to her, "Watching someone like that die right in front of you—that's something you can't really come back from."

"They're never really gone." She said suddenly, relaying to him some of the thoughts she'd been thinking over the past day or so. "They hang around you like ghosts. Maybe that's where people got the idea from."

He hummed in agreement, nodding gently. She sniffed slightly, and he blinked back tears.

She took a breath and looked down. "Do you think it really ever starts to feel better?"

"I've got no fucking clue." Eggsy said, "Everyone keeps telling me so, but I don't feel a damn bit different."

"Encouraging." She said sardonically, smiling as she wiped her nose. He looked down at her, and she met his gaze. She smiled a bit brighter as if she were trying to encourage him. He didn't return the expression, but she knew he was not upset with her previous response.

She bent down and moved some of the grass and fallen leaves away. George sniffed her hands as she did so, fascinated. Jemma found two small stones and held them out in her open palm for her to inspect. When George was about finished Jemma straightened. She looked up at Eggsy, and then put them on top of Harry's headstone. She held her hand there for a minute, and smiled sadly, as if to Harry himself. Eggsy wondered what Harry would think about that.

She straightened and touched Eggsy's shoulder. He nodded thanks. George tumbled over his toes, going after a squirrel, and then abruptly reaching the end of her lead. She toppled back dramatically and rolled over to try again. He looked down, and grinned through his sadness, listening to Jemma laugh abashedly.

"Shall we, then?" He asked as cheerfully as he was able.

"Sure." She said. And with that, they rode back home, in a less quiet silence.


	4. Many Gifts Are Given

"When you were out yesterday with Galahad," Merlin began, walking beside Jemma down a corridor, "you missed something I think you might enjoy."

"Did I, now?" She raised a brow, curious.

He nodded, stopping in front of a set of mahogany double-doors. He offered the handles to her, and she frowned curiously. She pulled one, peeking inside. She took an awed breath, her mouth falling open. It was a library, with walls high as the house, and rolling ladders leading up to high shelves of towering bookcases. The center space, between the archways of books and wrought-iron, was a marble floor. There were more bookcases separating desks and armchairs, with those classic green lamps that she'd seen in movies. Surrounding the atrium, there were two balconies, on the east and west sides of the building, with more dusty volumes. Each one had its own spiral staircase leading up to them, more books tucked in them too.

"Oh, wow," She breathed, she looked up to Merlin, and her face broke into a disbelieving grin. "This is all yours?"

"Yes—well, Kingsman's." Merlin replied, beginning to walk inside. "You are free to use it as you wish throughout your training. Here, we remember the past, to better influence the future. We have ledgers and mission descriptions in the west-side of the west balcony, only accessible to official agents or recruits with special permission and supervision."

"Got it." She nodded, touching one of the desks carefully.

"Dogs are  _not_  allowed in here." Merlin said pointedly. "Sign out books, and know that if you break it, you buy me a new one. That goes for the furniture as well."

She nodded. He began to walk again, as she glanced about. She passed an aisle of books and spotted Eggsy. He was standing in a dark polo and loose pants, a pair of meticulously clean sneakers on his feet. It was a far cry from the button-down and slacks she usually saw him in, but it still fit him somehow. He seemed to be on the phone with someone, but she could not see the how he was doing so; all he had on were those glasses. He began reading a passage aloud from a Russian-sounding book. She hadn't noticed that she'd stopped until Merlin came back and spoke to her.

"Come on." He said, waking her from her mild daze.

She nodded and turned, just as Eggsy looked up at her. She smiled and gave a small wave, then followed Merlin's footsteps, listening to him talk about the different sections.

"Is that it?" Roxy asked, making Eggsy turn quickly back to the Russian text as Jemma disappeared out of his sight.

"Uh… yes." He nodded once and closed the book. "You think that's the right edition?"

"Well, now that I'm using that one to decipher it, I think I'm getting actual words so I believe so, yes." Roxy said, talking as she worked.

Eggsy sighed and closed the book. "You need anything else, Rox?"

"No, thanks, Eggsy." She replied.

"Course." He nodded, "Talk later, yeah?"

"Mm," Roxy murmured absently, obviously taken by the task of decoding the ciphertext.

He took off his glasses with a smile and turned to put the book back. He came out of the aisle, looking about. He spotted Jemma following Merlin up a spiral staircase to the library's east balcony.

"So," Merlin stopped at the top, and turned to her, "I take you to be someone who would enjoy these books."

"Which are these?" She asked, and he smiled.

"Glad you asked. Follow me." He spun on his heel, and walked all the way to the eastern end of the balcony, and showed her the first wall of books. "They're organized by author. The rest of the library is mostly analytical, but this section has a variety of things that are a bit more about the human condition."

She laughed, touching a book, "What a fine way of putting it."

"The Oresteia." He said, surprised, raising a brow at the book she was examining. "Did you know that's the—"

"—Oldest surviving Greek trilogy." She smiled, nodding, "I've read it before, actually."

"Really?" Merlin blinked. "Well aren't you full of surprises."

She grinned, and then they both turned, seeing Eggsy standing at the top of the spiral staircase. He leaned an arm against the banner, smirking at her.

"I can watch this one for you, Merlin." He teased.

"Alright then." Merlin gave a small smile. He turned to Jemma, "Watch him, will you?"

"What do you mean?" Eggsy replied indignantly to the older man, making Jemma snort.

Merlin looked back to her, "I have never seen a man be so graceful and also so idiotic."

Jemma laughed aloud, making Merlin smile before he moved to leave. As he walked past Eggsy, he paused, whispering, "Be  _civil_ , please."

"Always." Eggsy smirked, but the senior agent didn't look so sure. "What?"

Merlin raised a brow, and Jemma turned down an aisle. She could not hear them, but she could tell she shouldn't be observing them.

"What, Merlin?" Eggsy asked brow furrowed defensively.

"Don't get attached." Merlin said softly. "This is a  _job_ , Eggsy. Treat it as such."

With that, he stepped past to descend the stairs. Eggsy stood there for a moment, thinking. He turned then, and walked down a ways, looking for her. He found her with a stack of books already forming in her arms, a few rows down from where she'd started. She looked up at him with a warm half-smile as he came over to her. He noticed the author of a book she had in her arms.

"'There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.'" He recited. "That's Hemingway, I believe."

She raised her brows, an impressed smile on her face, "Are you a fan of him, then?"

"Nah." He smirked, leaning against one of the shelves, "A friend of mine was."

"Harry?" She asked. He blinked, and she realized she should not have asked, "Sorry, I just thought of, uh, the words on his headstone; 'But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.' That's a quote from him too."

Eggsy smiled sadly, "That it is."

She gave him a sympathetic look. "I actually didn't know that when I first saw it, I looked it up when we got back."

He watched her look a bit unsure about whether or not he would be upset. "You got any more?"

"Let me see." She said, opening the book she was holding by the author in question.

They ended up on the floor, sitting across from each other. He with a book called  _The Sun Also Rises,_  and she with  _A Farewell to Arms._  Every once and a while, she'd stop, and read him a line or two she liked. His novel was a bit more difficult to quote without explaining the prior plot points.

"'All thinking men are atheists.'" She snorted at one point. He laughed softly in return. After a long time, she read to him solemnly, this passage: "'The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.'"

She looked up at him, and he stared back. She sighed and closed the book. Eggsy scratched his temple. "Smart man, that Hemingway."

She nodded, and then met his gaze again. She spoke after a second, "You really can't bring your dog in here?"

He smiled, "I don't know," he lowered his voice, "to tell you the truth, I really only used this for sleeping most of the time."

She laughed, covering her mouth. She looked about, and he smiled at her. Closing his novel, he asked, "You like books?"

"Yeah. I'm not very good at reading though—by which I mean I do it very inconsistently, not that I'm illiterate." She clarified quickly.

"I understood, Jem, don't worry." He chuckled. "Which is your favorite, then?"

"Too hard!" She cooed, "I do love, though, Jane Austen. She is a classic. How about you, then?"

"Well, I might as well be illiterate at the rate I read." He joked, making her smile again. "I fancied a bit of James Bond when I was younger, but I rather like tv and movies now."

She smiled, "Haven't got cable anymore, so I'm way behind on mine. What do you like?"

This lead them into a long conversation, in which he caught her up on all the new episodes and storylines of the shows they both watched. As they talked, they went down to get George. They continued talking, going on a walk outside during Jemma's lunch hour. They wandered about the back field, and he kept her company as she continued to train George. He didn't give her any tips, just watched. It reminded him of something she'd said to him the day before.

"You said your dad had dogs?" He asked.

She nodded, scratching George behind the ears, "He had a real knack for training 'em."

"Huh." He thought for a moment, "What was he like?"

"My dad?" She glanced up at him. He nodded, avoiding her eyes. She frowned, looking out into the field as George waddled around, sniffing things. "Well, he was a kind man. Stern, but still kind. I loved him very much."

"Don't remember my dad." Eggsy said nonchalantly, leaning back on his heels with his hands in his pockets, "Actually, he's the reason why I met Harry. He died saving Harry's life, and then Harry came to find me later to offer me this job."

She smiled, "Sorry about your dad."

He shrugged, "I'm over it."

He checked the time on his watch and smiled. She stood, and looked over his shoulder. "Time to go back?"

"Mm," He nodded, turning to her, "Combat training again today."

"Sounds good." She said evenly, her hands on her waist. She began to walk, excited for the class.

***

When Eggsy walked back into the house, Merlin met him and told him that Roxy had called.

"What did she say?" Eggsy asked anxiously.

"She'll be back in about an hour or so. She was compromised in Moscow." Merlin said in a business-like tone.

"Is she alright?" Eggsy asked quickly.

Merlin nodded, "Of course she is."

Eggsy crossed his arms, relaxing. "We're going to continue to train them while we wait, though, right?"

Merlin nodded again, "I'm going to make an offer to that recruit, Rusty."

"What kind of offer?" Eggsy asked.

"He has a scientific mind, and he doesn't seem to particularly like fieldwork. The agent who proposed him knows that I often pick people for other positions from this pool, so I believe he told Rusty to wait for me to ask him." Merlin brought up his resume on the clipboard, "He's a bit older than the rest of the candidates—older than you too, actually."

"Really?" Eggsy looked over his shoulder, seeing he was right, "My god, he looks like a fetus."

Merlin nodded, "In any case, he has Ph.D. in physics and biochemistry, and a fair amount of knowledge about a range of other things."

"No kidding." Eggsy raised his brows, reading Rusty's resume, "And he's looking into another in criminology?"

"Apparently." Merlin shrugged, handing Eggsy the clipboard, "Why don't you go in and help the recruits get started? I've paired them up already."

Eggsy began to read the pairings Merlin had made as he walked downstairs. He walked into the gym, and all of the recruits stood at attention. He looked up and waved them off, making them relax.

"Alright, so, Merlin told me to come down and get you all started." He was frowning at the clipboard, trying in vain to figure out the piece of technology. He hit the side with his palm, and a guy snorted.

"God, he doesn't even know how to use a tablet." The recruit said aloud.

"Oh, fuck off, Will." Jemma snapped, crossing her arms tiredly.

"How come we're getting a  _lapdog_ , instead of the real teacher?" Will continued.

Eggsy raised his eyebrows, tucking the tablet under his arm. He was not really offended, but, he was more than happy to make an example out of the boy. He looked at all the recruits and then saw Jemma glaring up at Will still.

"I guess we'll just do this the old fashioned way then, won't we?" Eggsy put the tablet down on the ground. He slipped out of his sneakers and shucked off his coat. He stepped onto the mat in the center of the floor and then pointed to Jemma and James. "Can you two move this bag out of here for me?"

They nodded in unison and walked over. Eggsy turned back to the others as they worked together to remove the heavy punching bag. "So, instead of you fighting each other like before, you're all going to take your best shot at  _me_."

Jemma's head jerked up. She and James shared a scared glance as they set the bag down in the corner. She straightened, and James followed. They walked back around, as Eggsy lifted a hand, telling Will to come closer. Will stepped up, and rolled his shoulders.

He put his hands up, and Eggsy let out a snarky chuckle, "Come on, then."

Will ran at Eggsy. He stepped aside easily. Will straightened, looking around for the Kingsman. Eggsy smirked, already at the opposite end of the mats, waiting for him to catch up.

"Really?" He asked cheekily.

Will leaped forwards, punching air. Eggsy hit him in the side. After this, the match went quickly; Will was on the mat in seconds. Eggsy shooed him away with a wave of his hand. The next boy got up and introduced himself as Nicholas. He was by far the easiest to knock down. Eggsy helped him up and offered him some tips.

"You're not striking enough." Eggsy said, "You've gotta be confident in whatever you do; you're thinking too much before you move. Alright?"

Nicholas nodded, and Eggsy clapped him on the back as he left the mat. He motioned for the next one to come up. A tall blonde boy stepped forwards nervously. Eggsy recognized him as Ari, the boy who Merlin had mentioned after they flooded the dorm.

"How are we then, Ari?" Eggsy offered him a hand.

"Uh, fine, I guess—" Ari made the mistake of taking his hand.

Eggsy cut him off. He twisted Ari's wrist, buckling his knee as he was distracted. Ari fell down, and Eggsy let go of his hand. He squatted down in front of Ari, smiling flatly. "Why would you think that shaking the hand of someone you were going to fight was a good idea?"

"Because I assumed you were being  _civilized!_ " Ari cried indignantly, cradling his wrist. Eggsy put a hand on his shoulder with a loud  _slap_.

"You thought wrong." He said matter-of-factly. He stood, and looked back at the other recruits. "Who's next?"

James raised a hand, and Eggsy nodded, "Alright, then, James."

They squared up. Eggsy lifted his hands, beckoning the recruit closer, "Come on, then."

"As you wish," James muttered, stepping forwards.

He began with a right head-hook. Eggsy ducked under his arm. James tried to follow with a kick to Eggsy's side. Eggsy caught his leg and rooted it to his side. James' eyes widened. Eggsy spun him about, making James lose his balance. He lifted the recruit up by the leg and slammed him down onto the mat. He let go of him and wiped his hands on his pants. It went on like this for most of the time.

He tossed one recruit almost completely over his shoulder. He straightened and glanced over as the boy groaned. His eyes lifted, and he saw Jemma. Her arm was across her stomach, her elbow resting atop it. She was touching her lips thoughtfully, studying the boy on the ground. She felt his eyes. She looked up carefully and met his dark gaze. He stared at her, and then turned away, tugging the polo off over his head. He looked back at her, breathing heavily, and covered in a thin layer of sweat. She found the almost deranged look of pleasure and pride in his face strangely welcoming. This made her a bit anxious.

"Come on then, Jem." He jerked his head, asking her to get up onto the mats.

She swallowed, nodding and stepping up. She was quite good at keeping a level expression. She commanded herself to focus. She looked up at him, and then suddenly, her face went slack. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she stumbled backwards, falling flat on her back. Eggsy's brows shot up, his face stricken. He ran over to her.

"Jemma?" He asked, squatting down next to her. Her eyes were closed, and she did not answer. The recruits began to gather closer. Eggsy waved them away, "Back off!"

He reached out, going to check her pulse on the inside of her wrist. Suddenly, her hands flew up. She wrapped her fingers around his instead. He looked up to her face, finding her eyes open wide. She smiled wickedly. Sliding her legs across the mats, she swept his out from under him. He fell onto his side. She got above him and turned him onto his back. Her knees were straddling his waist, as she grabbed his wrists again, pinning them above his head.

He began to catch his breath as she paused, blowing some of the hair out of her face. His eyes fluttered open, an exhausted, but proud, smile on his face. He laughed, and she beamed. Shaking his head, he looked back up into her face. His hands snapped out from her grasp. She lost her balance and fell forwards. He gripped her ribs in his wide palms and lifted his right knee. He pushed off from there, using the momentum to knock her over next to him. He looked to his left, grinning and breathing heavily. She was on her back as well now, catching her breath. She laughed, touching her forehead with her hand, and then opening her eyes to look at him. He sat up, and she sighed.

"Damn it." She muttered, looking only half upset.

He grinned, standing, offering her a hand. "Nice try, Jem."

She smiled, "I'll get you next time."

He tossed his head back and laughed, "Someday— _maybe_ , but I doubt  _any of you_  will be getting anywhere closer to winning the next time we fight." He addressed the rest of the class, which seemed to be thoroughly worn out.

" _Galahad!_ " Merlin burst into the room, making them all spin about in surprise. He nodded to Eggsy, "Go on, then, go help Lancelot, I'll deal with this lot."

Eggsy nodded, bending down to scoop up his things. He hurried out past Merlin, who looked at all the recruits suspiciously. "What the bloody have you been doing in here? You look like you've all been run over by a train or something! It's only eleven o'clock, why're you all just standing there? You've got loads more to do! Get moving!"

Eggsy jogged to the tram, zipping up his sweater over his bare chest. He reached it just as it returned from the shop. The door slid open, and Eggsy found a very tired-looking Roxy. She stepped out and looked up at him. She sighed and tugged a heavy-looking suitcase along behind her.

"Hey, Rox, you need a hand?" He moved to grab the handle, but she stopped him.

"Trust me," She said darkly, "you  _don't_  want to touch this."

He stepped back, hands up in surrender. He resigned to simply walking next to her as she lugged it to the infirmary, where they found Rusty was waiting, having obviously accepted Merlin's offer. She asked the two of them to help her lift the case up onto one of the examination tables. Rusty held out a box of latex gloves to Roxy, who took some without looking away from the bag's zipper. He turned to Eggsy who frowned but took two anyways. Rusty was already wearing some, of course, so he put the box back on the medical table at his hip. It was the first time Eggsy was seeing him in an element that suited him.

"I'm going to open it." Roxy informed them. She glanced from Eggsy to Rusty, who nodded. Roxy began to unzip the case, as Merlin walked in, making sure to shut the door behind him. Suddenly, Eggsy's nostrils were attacked by a rancid smell.

"Jesus  _fuck!_ " Eggsy cried, covering his face with his forearm. " _Bloody hell, Rox,_ what is that  _smell?!_ "

She lifted the top, and Eggsy's eyes became the sizes of dinner plates. Rusty winced, looking at the contents, and Merlin just looked plain disgusted. Roxy stepped back and began breathing through her mouth. Eggsy stepped forwards, his arm falling away from his face as he took a closer look. Inside, there was a man. His body was so disfigured, they couldn't be sure who he was originally.

" _Fuck me_ …" Eggsy breathed. He looked up to Roxy, remembering how Merlin had described the information she gave him, "You said you were bringing  _cargo_ , Rox."

She shrugged, using both hands to indicate the body, "That  _is_ cargo, Eggsy."

He shook his head bewilderedly, muttering to himself, " _Christ_."

"Who is he, Lancelot?" Merlin asked in a business-like tone.

"I'm not sure, sir." She replied, "He was sent directly to the safe house in Moscow. No return address, no note, no prints."

Rusty examined a finger, and glanced up at Roxy, "Have you got any guesses as to who it could be?"

Roxy shrugged, obviously annoyed with herself for not knowing. Merlin suddenly spoke, his voice flat and unhappy.

"'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'" He said, making the agents all turned to him. He met their collective gaze, "I'm guessing you all know well what that means."

"Yeah, but what does it have to do with this?" Eggsy frowned.

Merlin used his pen to turn one of the man's cuffed sleeves inside-out. "It's these bloody awful cufflinks that gave him away. His name is Lionel Hammond. He does— _did_ —some freelance work for us in eastern Europe. Last I heard, he was in Budapest."

"Alright, but again: what did you say 'an eye for an eye' for?" Eggsy repeated, mildly annoyed.

"Before being doused in acid or whatever they used to corrode his skin, he was shot, six times." Merlin pointed to each of the bullet holes Roxy and Eggsy had not noticed under the melted skin.

"Christ," Roxy breathed, looking a bit disturbed.

"You recognize the pattern?" Rusty asked, and Merlin nodded.

"Yes. Someone else we know what shot in those same places if I remember correctly." Merlin pulled out his tablet and turned to a monitor they had in the lab. He brought up an image of a body like one out of an anatomy textbook and asked Rusty to point out where every shot landed.

"The first bullet is in the center, soft tissue of the right shoulder, and the second is just below it, under the clavicle." Rusty touched the screen in the specific places. "The third bullet is in the sternum, here, a fourth to the top of the left shoulder, chipping the bone, a fifth passed through the chin and into his neck. The final bullet is in his left femur; not quite sure what the order was."

"Right shoulder, then leg, then left shoulder, then sternum and then chin." Eggsy said, looking down at the ground, his face hard and his arms crossed tightly across his chest.

Merlin looked back at him and Roxy. She met his stare, an idea dawning on her, "Isn't that—"

"—Exactly how Jemma killed Rufus? Yes." Merlin answered, nodding. He pressed some other buttons on his clipboard, and another image came up next to the drawing. "This is an image from the autopsy report of Caleb Jackson, filed by a Kingsman doctor."

"An eye for an eye." Eggsy repeated softly, his eyes still trained on the ground, and his expression souring. He straightened, looking up at Merlin. "Is there any chance that an ex-recruit like Rufus could find this place again?"

"Well, it's not on any maps, nor are recruits allowed to be brought by car without a blindfold." Merlin replied, "When you took Jemma to Jackson's funeral, I made an exception."

"Merlin, if it's alright with you, I'd like to take Eggsy and go to Budapest." Roxy asked, "Perhaps we can retrace some of Hammond's steps."

Merlin thought for a moment and then nodded. "Alright. Rusty here will examine the body further. I'm going to put in a command to post more security in all the most vital Kingsman properties. You can take the jet, but don't take more than a week, yes?"

Roxy and Eggsy nodded. He followed her out of the infirmary, that was now also being used as a laboratory. Eggsy looked at her, and she gave him a sympathetic expression in response. Whilst taking a corner, they came upon a small dog sitting in the middle of the hallway. Roxy stopped dead in her tracks beside Eggsy, and together they stared at the small pup. It looked up and seemed to recognize that they were people and waddled over to greet them, leash dragging on the ground behind.

"Georgie?" Eggsy frowned, squatting down to pet the terrier. "What the devil are you doing out here all by yourself?"

She spun and sat down on his shoe, lifting her foot to scratch her ear. Eggsy looked up, expecting to find Jemma not far behind her dog, perhaps too engrossed in a book or something to keep up. She did not appear. Eggsy stood, picking up George with him. Roxy could sense his worry form miles away. She did not ask any questions, simply followed his lead.

"Galahad!" A cheery voice called from behind them. Eggsy and Roxy jumped, turning around quickly. James raised a brow, his face and hair still wet from the shower he seemed to have just taken. "Uh, hi."

Roxy gave a nod of acknowledgment, "Lancelot."

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Lancelot." James replied cordially. He turned back to Eggsy, "You alright?"

Eggsy nodded absently, "You haven't seen Jemma, have you?"

"Jemma? No." James' face suddenly filled with worry, "You can't find her?"

"No," Roxy answered for him, "we just found her dog and wanted to return it to her."

"Oh, well, I don't know." James said, holding out his hands, "I can take George and find her if you'd like?"

"Thank you that would be—" Roxy began.

"—Actually, you know what, that's alright, James." Eggsy interrupted. "Thanks though."

James looked back and forth between the two of them, a confused expression on his face. "Alright…"

After he was out of earshot, Roxy turned on Eggsy.

"What the hell was that?" She asked, clearly aggravated. "We have more important things to do than return some recruit the dog they should be looking after!"

"Nah, Rox." Eggsy replied, obviously thinking of something else. "There's something wrong."

"What do you mean?" Her voice softened slightly.

"Jemma loves this dog." Eggsy said blankly.

"So? I love my dog, you love yours; doesn't mean we aren't apart sometimes." Roxy said exasperatedly.

"Jemma loves this dog so much she risks Merlin's fury and sneaks her into the library inside her jacket." Eggsy said, trying to put some pieces together.

Roxy blinked; even she was mildly impressed by anyone who tried Merlin's patience on that front. She sighed, "I can tell you won't be letting this go until you find her, so let's just get on with it already."

They began to walk down the hall. It was strange to feel nervous and un-secure in this place. It might have been a small feeling in the backs of the minds, but it was there. Roxy followed without question, choosing to help him feel better than to try and convince him he was worrying about nothing. Eggsy stopped in front of the computer room, his brow furrowing further. He looked down into his sweatshirt, where George was occupying her time by chewing on her leash. His eyes lifted back to the room, and he stepped across the threshold. It was a pretty average computer lab, with swivel chairs and long tables that multiple desktops occupied. There was a closet in the back left-hand corner, where servers and things were kept—Eggsy didn't really know what it was for. It was securely locked still, so he did not have to worry about that. Everything else seemed to be in order as well.

As he turned to leave, something caught his eye. He craned his neck, looking above the computers, and finding a foot. Like lightning, he yanked the pistol he had out of the back of his pants. Behind him, he heard Roxy pull hers out of her coat. They were not supposed to have live weapons around the recruits if they weren't training, but tensions had been running high recently. He walked around slowly, tiptoeing in his sneakers. He found that the foot was connected to a body underneath the table closest to the closet door. It moved drowsily, and he heard a soft voice groan, " _bloody hell_."

Roxy pushed past him gently, and dropped to the floor, leaving her gun on the table top as she went. She moved a swivel chair out of the way and bent down under the desk. She offered a hand and helped a mildly frazzled-looking Jemma scoot out. She was holding the back of her head and wincing.

"What happened?" Eggsy asked, squatting down next to Roxy and letting George hop out of his sweater. Roxy began maneuvering Jemma's head about, examining the back of her skull gingerly.

"Hi, baby," Jemma cooed gently, scratching her excited dog's head. She looked up at him from under Roxy's arm and took a moment before answering. "I fell and hit my head."

"Under a table?" Roxy asked, mildly incredulous.

Jemma looked up at her, a blank expression on her face, "I was playing with my dog."

Eggsy frowned and looked over Roxy's shoulder as she turned back to Jemma's head. He reached out and touched a discolored patch on scalp very gently, and she jumped. He froze, and looked back into her face, "That hurts?"

She nodded, and then winced, closing her eyes. She put a hand on her forehead, muttering, "Dizzy…"

"Alright, let's get you to the infirmary." Roxy said, pulling Jemma's arm over her shoulders, and helping her to her feet. Eggsy stood on her other side and called after them for George to follow.

As they walked to the med bay, Eggsy kept turning around to prompt George to follow them. He would turn back and tell Jemma what her puppy had gotten distracted by each time. She would smile in response, but only for a moment. There was something else on her mind, but neither Eggsy nor Roxy thought much of it. Roxy went to speak with Rusty on the other side of the room, and Eggsy helped Jemma up onto the foot of a cot. He took a bag of ice from Roxy, putting it against the back of Jemma's head. She moved back to Rusty, as Jemma took the pack from Eggsy. He put his hand down on the corner of the bed next to her. He glanced over, watching Rusty and Roxy talk, presumably about Hammond.

"Galahad." Jemma whispered suddenly, making him turn to her. Her eyes flickered to the other agents, then back to him. "I didn't hit my head."

Eggsy frowned, "What do you mean?"

She looked about nervously, and then back to him. "I've been noticing that you usually leave the computer lab door open when you leave—"

"—Why've you been noticing that?" He asked, and she shook her head,

"Because… I don't know!" She replied indignantly, "Sometimes I see it shut, in the middle of the day. It was closed when I was walking past it with George, and so I decided to go in a see if it was just you lot talking or something. The last thing I remember is seeing that closet in the back was open."

"Well, then what?" Eggsy leaned closer.

She shrugged, "I believe someone his me over the head with… something metal. It was the corner of something, or maybe the end. It was small, maybe about ten centimeters wide, and when it hit me, it made a sound, but not it wasn't hollow like a gun." She frowned to herself, scratching her chin. He smiled suddenly.

"You know," He said, "even though you got hit over the head, your attention to detail is quite good."

She blinked and looked up into his face. She gave him an abashed smile, turning away again.

"How come you didn't tell me right when I found you?" Eggsy asked gently, and she glanced over at Roxy again.

"I don't know who she is, and as much as I trust you, Galahad, I  _was_  just knocked out by someone." She replied pointedly, watching Rusty pull up something on his tablet. Eggsy's eyes did not stray from her face. He kept looking at her, suddenly overcome with a rush of self-assurance that obviously stemmed from her complete confidence in him alone.

"You can trust her too, you know." He said gently, leaning closer to her ear.

She turned to face him and remained unfazed by the close proximity of their noses. "I just got attacked the same day she appeared."

"I've been with her the entire time since she got here." He said, glancing at Roxy, "You can trust her."

"I don't even know her name." Jemma crossed her arms.

Eggsy smiled, "You don't know  _my_  name."

She looked back into his eyes, and gave him a tired look, "I know your  _codename_."

"Right, but that's my  _codename_ , not my real name." He pointed out, "You said you didn't know  _her name_  as if that should be a qualifying factor."

She leaned back slightly, raising her brows, "You must think yourself quite clever right now."

"I always do." Eggsy said, a cheeky grin on his face, "Probably how I've gotten myself into so much trouble."

She laughed softly, just as Roxy and Rusty glanced in their direction. Eggsy waved a hand at them with a facetious smirk. They turned back to one another. She looked at him with a content smile on her lips and then adjusted the bag of ice she had balanced precariously on her head.

"Are you sure the closet was open, Jem?" Eggsy asked softly.

She nodded, "Positive."

His frown deepened, his hand moving to scratch a spot behind his ear. "Hm…"

"You keep anything important in there?" She smirked up at him. He looked down at her, surprised by how good of a mood she seemed to be in, despite the circumstances.

"You know, I don't think so." He grinned, replying with the same joking tone.

They stood in silence for a long while, and then Eggsy pulled the ice off her scalp, examining it. He told her that he was going on a trip for a few days, and he could've sworn her face fell slightly—but it was probably that she had a headache. He straightened, having given her a new sack of ice. She smiled and nodded gratefully. He watched her for a moment and then turned to look about the room casually.

"It's Eggsy, by the way." He said suddenly, relaxing against the side of the cot.

"What is?" She frowned.

He looked at her, smiling gently. "My name."

Her expression softened, her face breaking slowly into a smile. She turned away, meeting Roxy's eyes as she came back over to them, Rusty in tow. After a moment, Eggsy gave Jemma a look, and she reluctantly told them the truth. Roxy had an excellent poker face, and so she did not reveal to Jemma the anxiety brought on by what she was saying.

"Thank you for, uh, telling us." Roxy said, trying her best to be encouraging. Eggsy winced slightly behind Jemma's back, and Roxy rolled her eyes at him. "Merlin has some questions for you, but then you'll be free to return to your training."

Jemma nodded. "Alright."

Roxy jerked her head towards the door, "Come on then, Galahad."

He smiled and walked over to her. As they left, both paused simultaneously to pet George—who'd been sleeping peacefully on the floor, and whom they'd rudely disturbed during their departure—without the least bit of shame. Roxy nodded goodbye one last time, and Eggsy gave a wave. And with that, they were off to Hungary.


	5. Sunrise Over Hungary: Enter an Enigma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! If you're super confused as to why this is suddenly chapter five and not chapter fourteen, then don't worry! I've re-written this entire story, so you should go back and read the first few chapters to get up to speed.

Eggsy was sat in the passenger seat of a small car. Roxy was next to him, a pair of overly large binoculars pressed against her nose. Eggsy was leaning against the dash, looking over her shoulder out the same way. He was spinning the signet ring on his pinkie finger absently. There was little occurring outside.

When they'd arrived in Budapest, they'd gone to the forwarding address Hammond had given Merlin. It was a relatively shabby place, next to a dark alley and on a quiet road. Eggsy had kept a lookout as Roxy had fiddled with the building's main door. When they'd gotten it open, they'd traveled up the stairs to an apartment on the third floor. Eggsy had leaned against the stairwell casually, looking about as Roxy picked the apartment's lock. She'd hissed his name, and he'd come bounding over, following her inside, and closing the door delicately behind him.

The place had been pretty neat, with everything very well taken care of. The living room seemed to also be used as a study, which had caused Eggsy to believe Hammond did not often entertain guests. Hammond did some freelance work coding for fortune-five-hundred companies, but what they had found on his sitting room wall was far more complicated than anything he should have been working on outside of Kingsman. It had been a line of code, the same one printed over and over again, in all different size fonts and at different angles. The centerpiece had been the code, blown up so each symbol took up an entire sheet of eight by eleven printer paper. Roxy had turned to share a look with him, before pulling out her glasses to call Merlin. He'd picked up immediately.

"Lancelot," He'd greeted her, "is Galahad with you?"

"Here, Merlin." Eggsy had called, leaning a bit closer to Roxy's ear. Neither he nor Roxy could look away from the wall.

"Jemma informed me of what she believes happened, and—" Merlin had begun as if it were a side-note.

"—What do you mean, 'what she  _believes?_ '" Eggsy had asked, scowling slightly at Merlin's tone.

"There's nothing wrong with the server room." He'd said, "The locks were not tampered with in any way, and none of the alarms went off."

"You saying that the ghost of Christmas past knocked her out?" Eggsy had countered.

"No, of course not. I'm just not sure about the whole situation; she seems to be a magnet for danger." Merlin had replied calmly.

Eggsy had nodded, crossing his arms. He'd looked back at the wall, brow furrowing further. "What do you make of this code, then?"

"Hm…" Merlin had frowned, "Can you get a bit closer, Lancelot?"

She'd nodded, and stepped closer, Eggsy following. They'd begun examining each piece of paper, and how they were organized. They'd taken photos of it all together, and then individually. Per Merlin's request, they'd taken it all down, tucking the papers safely into a briefcase they'd brought along with them. Underneath the code, they'd found a new layer of papers. Roxy had let out an aggravated sigh, to which Eggsy had blinked. He had been surprised to hear her complaining about any kind of intellectual or analytical work. They'd looked like poor-resolution cellphone photos, of a house, the address clearly shown.

This was what they were now watching. Their car was parked atop a hill above the house. No one came or went; they were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of any movement behind the curtains. They took turns between watching the building and looking through all the papers they'd taken from Hammond's loft. Eggsy had grown tired of reading the same papers over and over again, so he'd decided to take a break. She sighed and dropped the binoculars into the cup holder between them. She didn't look away from the house. Eggsy decided to turn back to the files with fresh eyes.

"I don't understand what's going on, Eggsy." Roxy began as he flipped through the papers, "There are all these different events and things going on at the same time, but they don't seem at all connected; first Rufus attacks the shop, and then someone knocks out Jemma, I mean…"

She trailed off, shaking her head exasperatedly. He sighed, knowing how she felt. She ran an exhausted hand through her dirty blonde hair.

"It  _can't_  be coincidence, can it?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking up at her.

"I mean, the only two things they have in common are Kingsman." She said.

"Right…" He raised a brow, "So you think that there's someone working for whoever Rufus was, and they're inside pretending to be a recruit?"

She shrugged, donning a very stressed expression, "It's the only logical connection I can think of! The only other thing between them is Jemma, but security cameras have her with her dog in the hall when the computer lab's security cameras timed out."

"Are they motion-activated?" Eggsy asked, and she nodded. "I mean, I don't want to point any fingers, but there are quite a few ways to get past those. I don't know why you'd  _want_  to get past them though; Merlin hardly monitors anything in there."

"What could be so important that they have to hide what they're doing?" Roxy asked tiredly, and Eggsy frowned, thinking.

"I dunno." He glanced up at her and saw how anxious she looked. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Rox, are you alright?"

She nodded, taking her head out of her palm and returning her gaze to the house. "I'm just tired, is all."

Eggsy gave her a look, and she sighed. He waited a moment, knowing that she could feel him staring at her. She put the binoculars up in front of her face.

"I want to get these guys." She grumbled, "I want to pin their dicks to the wall and cut the—"

"— _Jeez_ , Rox," Eggsy blinked, and she looked over to him.

"Eggsy, they left a decomposing body on my doorstep as  _a threat_. It was  _disgusting_. Imagine  _what else_  they could do!" Her face was hardened with determination. She turned back to the house, peering through the binoculars. "Besides, I want to go home already, I'm sick of being alone in bloody Russia."

"Hey," Eggsy put a hand on her shoulder, smiling sweetly, "I've missed you too, Rox."

She smiled, not looking back at him. "Thanks, Eggsy."

"I know for a fact that Merlin's missed you too." Eggsy continued cheerfully, "I think we make him feel younger." He joked.

She laughed softly, her breath fogging up the window for a moment. "I hope they let me stay for a bit after this."

"Oh, I'll make them!" He cried gallantly.

"Don't get me wrong," She turned back to take a sip out of her thermos, "I love the field, but I also love England."

"Ain't that the truth." Eggsy replied.

They both turned their attentions back to their tasks and began casual conversation. Their topics ranged from music to dogs to firearms. Eggsy told her about all the recruits—which ones were good at what, which ones he thought shouldn't be considered at all, etcetera—and then they were back to talking about dogs again. Roxy nodded, and listened, but still remained focused for the next four hours or so. They were going to call it quits after another hour since nothing had happened.

"We could always just go in, you know." Eggsy suggested jokingly.

She rolled her eyes, smirking, "Yeah, I'm sure that would go  _fantastic_."

He smiled, and then glanced out his window. A figure caught his eye, walking down the street away from them. Eggsy straightened slowly, his brow furrowing. The figure was shrouded in darkness, a long overcoat hugged close about him. Eggsy didn't know how, but he felt as if he recognized him somehow—he  _knew_  he recognized him. This was the man's third time past the car; the first two times, Eggsy thought it a coincidence, but now he was quite sure that he and Roxy were not the only ones observing targets.

"Rox—"

"—I see him, Eggsy." She nodded, staring intently out of the windshield after the guy.

Eggsy opened the door slowly, as the man disappeared around the corner. If Eggsy had been watching correctly—and he had been—then the man was to appear at the other end of the block in a few minutes. Eggsy believed that he was making a loop, coming back around and past their vehicle every few minutes to spy on them.

Eggsy shut the car door and wrapped his coat tighter around him. Inside, Roxy put the binoculars back up in front of her eyes. He rubbed his gloved hands together and looked down the street. The man appeared around the exact corner Eggsy believed he would. Eggsy stared him blatantly in the face. The man's hat was low over his eyes, and he pulled his scarf up further over his nose as he went.

"Oi," Eggsy called, as the guy walked in front of him, "Oi, bruv,"

He reached out and grabbed the man's shoulder to try and stop him. Suddenly, he spun, shoving Eggsy off. Eggsy stumbled back, and the man swung at him. His punch was too wide. Eggsy ducked easily. Roxy jumped out of the front seat and unholstered her sidearm. She braced her arms atop the car, cocking the pistol. The man was distracted by her gun. She glared at him, and Eggsy hit him right in the jaw.

There was a harsh sound, like plastic cracking. Eggsy pulled his hand back, letting it hover near his head, still clenched into a fist. The man convulsed violently, stumbling about. Eggsy took a slow step back. He bumped into Roxy as she came around the car to stand next to him. The man crumpled to the ground. The Kingsmen stood frozen for a long moment, his hands up, her gun still cocked, and both agape.

" _Jesus,_ Eggsy!" Roxy cried suddenly, making him jump. " _How hard did you hit him?!_ "

He looked down at his hands in awe, and then back to the body. "Must be this new signet ring Merlin gave me."

She frowned, examining it, "Why the bloody hell would Merlin make something like that?!"

"It's either that or…" He began to pretend a great realization had dawned upon him. He turned to her, speaking reverently, "I've been given  _superpowers._ "

She then proceeded to do the longest eye-roll he'd received from her yet. Shaking her head, she walked over to the body. She squatted down next to it, going to move the scarf away from his face. Eggsy bent down next to her, hands on his knees. Gingerly, she pushed it off his nose. They both immediately went to cover their noses, due to the horrid smell.

"Bloody  _hell,_ " Eggsy winced.

" _My god_ ," Roxy said, showing him what was under the scarf.

The man was not a man at all anymore; the latter half of his face was gone as if it had been dissolved by something. Droplets of melted skin dripped off and sizzled on the pavement. He was virtually unrecognizable and almost inhuman. Eggsy shook his head and looked down at the ring.

"It's disgusting, don't get me wrong," He said through the sleeve of his coat, "but you have to admit, it's pretty fucking cool."

She looked up at him as if she wanted to be incredulous, but was simply too tired.

***

"I  _did not_  make anything like that." Merlin yelled at Eggsy as they video chatted.

" _Told you_." Roxy called quietly from the other end of the long table they were standing at. She was wrapping the body in a plastic tarp for transport. Eggsy rolled his eyes and turned back to Merlin.

"Well, I haven't suddenly developed the ability to melt someone's face off, have I?" Eggsy said exasperatedly.

"I  _sincerely_  doubt it, Galahad." Merlin replied flatly. "Bring the body home. I'll contact you later, I have to go."

Eggsy nodded and shut the laptop. He sighed, looking over at Roxy as she finished sealing the body inside a body bag. She'd decided it would be best for the body to be wrapped more than once, just in case the corrosion continued. She pulled off her latex gloves, throwing them into the trash with a disgusted hand. She turned to meet his gaze and untied the apron she'd put on over her suit. She tossed it over their hotel suite's dining room table.

"I'm going to take a shower." She walked passed him, and he nodded.

She went into the bathroom behind him, shutting the door firmly. He stood there for a long moment, thinking, whilst tapping the table gently with his fingertips. The shower turned on, and he sighed. Spinning on his heel, he crossed the small distance that separated him from his bed. He flopped down on his stomach, and exhaled contently, bringing his hands up across the comforter to prop up his head.

He wasn't sure if he actually dozed or not, but in any case, he was very close to doing so. He began to hear something else besides the muffled noise of the faucet through his sleepy haze. He opened one eye and looked about. The room was still. He closed his eye, but then the small sound caught his attention again. He sat up then, looking around the dim room—the sun had set completely since he'd laid down—and swallowed the bitter taste of sleep. He stood, walking over to the dining room table. He wiped a bit of dried drool off his chin and opened the laptop. The screen didn't illuminate at first, allowing him to see his own, exhausted reflection.

There was someone behind him.

His eyes widened. He spun, throwing the laptop in the direction of the intruder. They ducked, the laptop smashing against the wall. His new adversary pulled out a knife. Eggsy crossed his forearms, holding them above his head and blocking the intruder's hand. They let go of the knife, and caught it in their free hand. Eggsy jumped back as they sliced at him. They continued to chase after him, and he fell against the table. He braced himself against it. He leaned out of the knife's path again.

Eggsy kicked them hard in the stomach. They stumbled back towards his bed. Suddenly, Roxy burst out of the bathroom next to them. With her hair wet and only a towel on, she swept Eggsy's attacker off their feet. She grabbed her gun off Eggsy's bedside table. In one fluid movement, she cocked it and pressed the barrel against the intruder's head. They froze, raising their hands slowly. Eggsy bent down, trying to look at their face. They glanced up at Roxy. Within a split second, they went for her gun. She shook them off easily, knocking them in the nose with the butt of the pistol. They fell back, effectively knocked out.

"Tie him." She jerked her head towards the unmoving form. Eggsy did as he was told.

He pulled a chair over the foot of his bed. He leaned it against the wall there, and sat them in it, tying their limbs securely. Eggsy took off their mask, discovering a young man he did not recognize. He turned and sat down on the small couch at the end of his bed, watching the sleeping boy carefully. When she'd been satisfied with Eggsy's knots, Roxy had lowered her gun, and gotten dressed. Now, she was kneeling on the bed behind him, brushing her damp hair and watching their new prisoner with the same concentration as her fellow Kingsman. They waited in silence until the young man finally stirred.

"Evening, dickhead." Eggsy said with false cheer, hearing Roxy stand up from the mattress. She tossed the hairbrush back on top of the comforter, and stepped in between the two men, crossing her arms menacingly. She glared at the young man, and he stared right back.

"Who do you work for?" Roxy's tone made it sound more like a command than a question.

He didn't answer.

"Listen, mate, either you answer her, or I'm gonna have to  _make you_  answer her, which  _won't be_  very fun for you." Eggsy said matter-of-factly. "I'd just spit it out, already, we ain't got time for this."

The young man simply glared at him

Eggsy sighed dramatically, standing, "I guess you leave us no choice—"

"Can I offer you some advice?" The young man interrupted.

"Sure." Eggsy answered.

"Talk less. Your accent really takes away from the performance." The guys said as if he thought the comment would really be that insulting.

Eggsy laughed aloud then and sat back down. He sighed, smiling, "Get fucked, bruv."

"Tell us who you work for." Roxy's voice was even, as she continued to pace back and forth between them.

"Seven years," The boy said, "it's been  _seven years_  since I've spoken to a Kingsman."

Eggsy straightened, and Roxy paused as she paced, both turning to stare at him.

"I thought maybe you'd be a bit different, you know?" He looked back and forth between them, and then coming to rest on Roxy for a long moment, "I guess they've just lowered their  _standards_  since."

"Who the fuck are you?" Eggsy snapped.

He moved to meet Eggsy's eye. "I'm no one."

"Oh for  _christ's sake,_ " Roxy muttered, rubbing her brow and beginning to pace again.

"I'd like to thank you on behalf of my employer," He continued, "that operative you killed was beginning to become a bit of a liability."

"What are you talking about?" Eggsy scowled.

"His heart wasn't totally in  _the cause_." He replied calmly.

"And what cause is that?" Roxy asked.

"Hm…" He thought for a moment, "I'm not sure if I want to tell you that just yet; wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. You'll meet them soon enough—you should just ask them yourselves."

Eggsy and Roxy looked at each other. Whoever it was, they were on the move, and they were coming here. The two Kingsmen jumped up and began to gather their things. They packed quickly, the boy still talking as they did so.

"How did you do it?" He asked, "Which one of you killed him?"

"Shut the fuck up." Eggsy growled as he walked past the chair, grabbing Roxy's hairbrush and stuffing it in his bag.

"It was you, wasn't it?" He continued, "My, my, I guess I shouldn't be surprised! You hire a savage you're going to get  _savage_  results."

They ignored him, and then suddenly, they heard a bang downstairs. Eggsy and Roxy looked at each other from across the room. They zipped whatever they had, and began to move towards the balcony, overlooking an alley next to their hotel.

"What're we gonna do about the body?" She asked anxiously. He paused after throwing a second bag out the window into a dumpster next to the getaway car they'd stowed there.

"We've gotta toss it down too." He said simply, "Right?"

She nodded, "Only solution I can think of."

Together they dragged the body across the room, and over the banister. Eggsy looked her in the eye and counted to three. On four, she nodded, and they pushed his body off into the dumpster. The body smacked the edge, and flopped out, landing on the pavement next to the car's wheel. She winced, and he did the same, cringing at the sickly noise it had made.

"You really think you'll be able to get out of this alive?" The man asked as Roxy passed Eggsy the last bag. They glanced over at him together. "We're going to burn Kingsman to  _the ground_ "

"And you know what, I cannot  _wait_ to see you try that." Eggsy said sarcastically, "Right now though, we've gotta bounce—come on Lancelot."

They turned, Eggsy putting a hand in between Roxy's shoulder blades as she stepped over the balcony's railing. The man spoke again, making her pause in the midst of clambering over the edge.

"I guess you're Galahad, aren't you? If she's Lancelot." He paused for a moment, "Wasn't sure which one of you was babysitting the new recruits."

Eggsy took a shallow breath.

"Did you tell them about Hammond?" He asked. "My employer enjoys testing the physical and mental boundaries of the human body."

"You're  _disgusting_." Roxy spat.

"How's the girl doing?" He continued, ignoring her, cocking his head slightly, "Her head still sore?"

Eggsy's brow furrowed. He shouldn't possibly know about that.

"I'm sure you made it all better didn't you, Galahad?" He had a smarmy smile on his face, "Didn't you know you're not supposed to pick favorites?"

Neither of them answered. The man caught onto the thread, understanding that this was a good one to pull.

"She's quite a smart one isn't she? And she's nice and easy on the eyes too. I reckon she'll win her rightful place at your table." He kept an intense eye-contact with the Kingsman. "I hear you've been trying to get into those pants since day one."

"No," Eggsy said, shaking his head to clear it, "shut the fuck up, you prick."

"I'm on your side, Galahad! Who says you can't have a bit of fun while you're training them?" He continued.

Eggsy gave him a repulsed expression, "You're  _messed up_ , bruv."

"You might want to make your move soon though; she won't live much longer if she wins." The boy finished, making Eggsy pause.

"If you come near any of us—" Eggsy pointed at him, attempting to be calm and menacing at the same time.

"—Do you really think we'll be deterred by your empty threats?" He snapped, "The Kingsmen  _will_  fall. And when they do, I'll be more than happy to hold you down and make you watch as my employer uses all of his vast knowledge of the human body on everyone else you work with. Including your lovely partner, Lancelot, and your soon-to-be-whore, Jemma."

"You keep their names out of your  _filthy_  mouth you  _rat bastard_ —" Eggsy lurched forwards, stopped only by Roxy's firm hand on his shirt.

She gripped his upper arm, "Come on, we have to go."

Eggsy looked back at the man. He smiled, and Eggsy's gut twisted.

"I have a bet with one of my co-workers about who will scream the most." He said sadistically, "I think it'll be you, but he says it'll be her."

" _Galahad,_ " Roxy shook his shoulder, but Eggsy couldn't look away from the man restrained in the chair.

"Is she a screamer, do you know?" He asked, grinning, "Do tell me; I wouldn't want to lose my money."

" _Come on!_ " Roxy growled, giving up and beginning to climb down without him.

The man feigned a sympathetic look, "Did I strike a nerve?"

Eggsy's nose twitched. Without another word, he lifted his gun and shot him right in between the eyes.

He stuffed the pistol into the back of his jeans. He hopped over to the other side of the railing and looked back at the body. There was a bang at the door, and he glanced up, able to tell that someone was trying to kick it down. He turned back to the dead man in the chair. He spat at the body, and then lifted his legs over the railing. He took one last look, scowling so deeply his brow began to ache.

He dropped down into the dumpster and helped Roxy put the other body in the car's trunk. They shut the boot and moved towards the front seats. Eggsy opened the passenger side door, just as they heard the hotel room being invaded by a swarm of men. Roxy turned on the car, and they shared a tense glance. Eggsy knew he wasn't getting out of this without a lecture.

***

They did not speak until the plane took off. Roxy sat across from him, gripping the arms of her chair as they lifted into the air. He expected her to begin yelling at him after it was safe for them to move around. She did not. In fact, she was hardly looking at him. She sipped ice water delicately, looking out the window. He twiddled his thumbs atop the table in between them. He glanced up at her through his eyelashes, and she ignored him. He sighed, flopping back against his chair.

"I'm sorry, Rox." He said, barely getting it out before she turned to him.

"You should be!" She cried, "What  _the hell_  was that back there? We needed  _to leave_ , and you just kept letting him  _taunt you!_ We could've  _gotten killed_ or worse! We did not have any tactical advantages, or bargaining chips, or—or— _anything!_ "

He nodded and looked down.

"And now we've got to worry about which one of the recruits if working for  _them!_ And all you could think about was  _the one!_ " She yelled, "There are  _eight_ kids in danger,  _not_ just that girl!"

"I know, Rox, I'm sorry, I don't—" He swallowed, "I don't know what happened."

"You let him figure out your soft spots!" She continued furiously, "For christ's sake, Eggsy, he was  _toying with you!_  He was trying to  _figure you out_ , and you  _let him!_  You cannot let those people get inside your head—what's wrong with you?"

"What would you have me do?" Eggsy replied fiercely, leaning onto the table. "He was  _threatening_  a  _recruit, Rox!_  I couldn't let them think they'd get away with that!"

"I'm not  _talking_ about  _killing him,_ I'm talking about  _listening to him_ blabber _on and on_  before finally doing it!" She shouted back.

He closed his mouth, and the anger melted off his face. She breathed heavily, her face still red. He sighed, and her face began to soften slowly. He scratched a spot on his head.

"It's my job to protect them, Rox." He said softly, staring at a spot on the table, "And I've gone and fucked it up."

"You haven't fucked anything up yet, Eggsy." She replied tiredly.

"They have someone inside the mansion; how am I supposed to protect 'em when I've no clue who's the rat?"

"It's obviously not just about that, Eggsy." She said gently.

He swallowed, and began defensively, "So what if I've got someone I'm rooting for? After all the shit she's gone through, Jemma  _deserves_  a fucking break, and for people to try and make it seem like I'm just interested in—"

"—Alright, alright, Eggsy," Roxy interrupted, much calmer now, "We cannot let ourselves spiral downwards. We have to stay focused, and we'll figure out who the rat is together.  _Okay?_ "

He took a deep breath and nodded. She returned the gesture, and after a moment of eye-contact, they both turned to look out the window. Behind them, something moved inside the body bag.


End file.
